Iraq's financial markets are showing serious signs of a recovery after more than a year of depressed activity and malaise.
An Iraqi stock exchange index has rallied by more than 11.5 per cent in the last three weeks and banks are lending more to local companies as the government appears to be stabilising. Trading volumes have risen to between US$2 million (Dh7.34m) and $3m a day, compared with $1m a day last year.
"We were waiting for four years for this point that we are seeing now," said Dara Maghdid, a director at the Iraq-focused Babylon Fund that was launched in September 2006. "Until last month, it was frozen because of security and political problems. Now we think the Iraq Stock Exchange is going to really start to grow."
While the increase in the Iraq Stock Exchange index is significant for the country and its 85 listed companies, the change represents a small amount of actual money changing hands. For instance, the total amount of stock traded last year was valued at 400 billion Iraqi dinars (Dh1.32bn).
Yet investors are beginning to pile millions of dollars into special funds set up to buy Iraqi stocks. Babylon Fund's analysts are predicting a tripling of prices within two years as investment appetite grows alongside Iraq's economy.
Fund managers point to important political developments in October as the catalyst for the rising volumes and prices. Most important was the powerful Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr supporting Nouri al-Maliki for a second term as prime minister. That move showed potential investors there was some certainty over who would be in charge during the next year. His appointment has since been approved by parliament.
"The political process gained significant momentum after that," said Geoffrey Batt, the managing director of the Euphrates Iraq Fund, which was set up last year in New York. "That seems to have marked a turning point for the country and also for the stock market. Now you are starting to see a significant amount of foreign interest in Iraqi stocks."
Mr Batt said his fund had seen "significant inflows" from investors since it was launched in October. Originally planned as a $5m fund, it may now reach the $40m to $50m size before closing to new investment, he said.
Another major relief for investors was the ability of most of Iraq's publicly traded banks to meet new capital requirements set by the government. There had been a widespread fear that many of them would have trouble, but those concerns appear to be unfounded, said Ahmed Waleed al Fawz, the chief executive of the Iraq-focused Al Fawz Brokerage.
"The market is a mirror of the economy as it is rising up," Mr al Fawz said. "Investors are feeling more confident about the banking sector and who is going to be in charge for the next year. As we say, the economy is a waking giant."
Furthermore, banks have begun to lend directly to companies in the economy in a much larger way after the government cut interest rates on finance ministry bonds.
Bank of Baghdad saw its loan book nearly triple last year and deposits grow by nearly 28 per cent compared with 2009, said Mr Batt. It is one of the top five most traded stocks on the exchange.
"What is really encouraging is that they are starting to lend in a significant way," said Mr Batt, whose firm owns Bank of Baghdad shares. "But the rates for ministry of finance notes have come down substantially and banks are doing what they are supposed to be doing: lending to small and medium-sized businesses."
The top performers in Iraq have been Gulf Commercial Bank, Iraqi for Seed Production, Investment Bank of Iraq, Middle East for Producing and Marketing Fish and Al Khair Financial Investment, according to the ISX website.
Mr Maghdid said there was a growing sense this year could be the "economic year" for Iraq.
With large oil-drilling projects under way, lower levels of violence and signs of strength in the government, the focus is shifting toward the massively underdeveloped economy, he said.
bhope@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Queen
Nicki Minaj
(Young Money/Cash Money)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
UAE%20set%20for%20Scotland%20series
%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20will%20host%20Scotland%20for%20a%20three-match%20T20I%20series%20at%20the%20Dubai%20International%20Stadium%20next%20month.%3Cbr%3EThe%20two%20sides%20will%20start%20their%20Cricket%20World%20Cup%20League%202%20campaigns%20with%20a%20tri-series%20also%20involving%20Canada%2C%20starting%20on%20January%2029.%3Cbr%3EThat%20series%20will%20be%20followed%20by%20a%20bilateral%20T20%20series%20on%20March%2011%2C%2013%20and%2014.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
More on Palestine-Israeli relations
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
