Kerbala International Journal of Management and Economics

Food security is one of the most important issues that must be addressed in all countries, whether developed or developing. It should be noted that agricultural nations have backed food security for both public and private purposes by making "the abolition of poverty and hunger" one of the United Nations' first Millennium Goals. These nations, including Iraq, are hoping to attain this aim within the constraints of their economic resources, but local economic variables impact agricultural productivity and make it impossible to achieve.
The significance of this research in Iraq derives from the lack of a clear vision of agricultural policy necessary to improve the country's agricultural reality following the country's political and economic events after 2000. And neighboring nations' foreign policy, which resulted in enormous quantities owing to a lack of appropriate water as well as a lack of rainfall.
All these variables had a significant impact on the development of the agricultural sector. This prompted the researchers to conduct this study to show the challenges faced by this vital sector in Iraq as the backbone of sustainable agricultural development in the long term. As well as the economic reality of the agricultural sector, in order to reach conclusions and recommendations aimed at raising the performance and developing the agricultural sector in Iraq.

Water is one of the most important natural resources in countries with desert and semi-desert climates such as Iraq, and its scarcity is the main obstacle to sustainable development because it controls the distribution of the population and its economic activities, especially agriculture, therefore, water is the source of life to provide food and achieve food security, but water resources suffer from several problems. Including climate variability resulting from changes in precipitation and snow, as this phenomenon has a direct impact on the life of society.
Besides, the water resources in many countries are international resources (the participation of many countries in one river), and Iraq is considered among those countries affected by these problems, as the Iraqi climate is characterized by dry and semi-arid.
In addition, another problem facing Iraq is the international pressure imposed by the country of the source Turkey and the countries through which rivers pass before entering Iraq Syria and Iran.
These complex and interrelated problems require exceptional efforts to solve them and reduce their dangerous effects, therefore, we emphasize the elements of the national strategy for the sustainability of water resources based on international experiences, and then adopt these elements to solve the problems of water resources and their sustainability in Iraq.

The private sector is an important pillar in building the economy, as it has the initiative in regulating economic relations and supporting productive activities, thus achieving economic surpluses. The research aims to calculate and analyze the flexibility of GDP in private investment, to know the role played by the private sector in the formation of output through investment under conditions of economic instability and economic crises. Economic performance and growth, and macroeconomic policies did not succeed in allowing the private sector to play its role in rebuilding it, which reinforced the factors of failure of economic performance and the spread of unemployment and poverty. The research hypothesis is that the high flexibility of GDP towards private investment is an important step in reforming the Iraqi economy. The research found weak flexibility of GDP towards private investment during the research period. The research recommended the adoption of a national strategy that allows the private sector to play its role positively in formulating economic and productive relations in all branches of the local economy, and to provide financial and organizational support and all facilities that ensure its sustainability.

The research aims to study and analyze the relationship between competitiveness and foreign direct investment in Iraq, by studying and analyzing the impact of competitiveness on foreign direct investment flows during the period 2015-2020. The importance of the research is reflected in the need to raise the level of competitiveness in order to expand the volume of foreign direct investment inside and outside Iraq, and to create the appropriate investment climate to attract foreign direct investment, as it helps in expanding the base of economic activity and achieving economic development. The research relied on a hypothesis confirming that competitiveness indicators have a great ability to raise the level of foreign direct investment in Iraq, meaning that the relationship between them is positive. The research used the inductive methodology and the deductive approach, whereby the statistical data of foreign direct investment were analyzed according to their chronological sequence. The research reached a number of results, the most prominent of which is that foreign direct investment inside Iraq was negative during the study period, meaning that foreign investments began to leave Iraq as a result of the unstable security situation in addition to financial and administrative corruption. The research also showed that foreign direct investment to Iraq abroad It was very weak, meaning that Iraqi investments abroad are very low compared to other foreign investments, and that Iraq was absent from the international competitiveness index that is issued annually by the International Economic Forum, and thus the inability of Iraq to compete with other countries, and thus the difficulty of accessing the global market, Finally, the results of the research showed the flight of foreign investments from inside Iraq as a result of the weak level of competitiveness, and Iraqi investments abroad decreased. The research came out with a number of recommendations, the most important of which is creating a suitable environment for investment that enjoys security and political stability through the use of sets of financial and monetary policies and government policies, while granting facilities to foreign investors, through tax cuts and exemptions for them, as well as reducing financial and administrative corruption and setting appropriate policies for that. Finally, paying attention to research and development to increase competitiveness, and setting attractive policies for technical, professional and administrative expertise and partnering them with internal workers to develop their capabilities and skills.

Abstract: The Iraqi economy suffers from clear instability in its economic policies in light of the worsening public budget deficit as a result of increased government spending on the one hand and the fluctuation of public revenues, rising and falling on the other hand, as the decline in oil prices since mid-2014 resulted in a clear deficit in the general budget. For the state before oil prices rose, and then oil prices fell again in the year (2020) after the spread of the (covid-19) epidemic and its repercussions on the global economy in general and Iraq in particular, which requires research into approved mechanisms to treat this deficit and relieve pressure on the state’s general budget This study concluded that the state should resort to the work of the Revenue Control Fund, rationalize public expenditures, and work hard in order to diversify the sources of public revenues in Iraq.

Water is considered one of the basic elements of human life, because God Almighty said: “... We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe” verse 30 of Surat Al-Anbiya’, as its shortage represents a major and afflicting problem for many countries that may reach the point of drought, which is what led researchers in this field to carry out research and experiments to reduce this disaster, and reach the establishment and promotion of water sustainability due to its extreme importance.
Water sustainability is one of the main challenges facing the world at the present time, and is represented in meeting human needs for water at the present time without compromising his ability to meet his needs in the future. Iraq faces many challenges in the application of water sustainability, and the importance of the research lies in the fact that the issue of water and its preservation is one of the most important issues raised internationally and locally, and that it is the basis for sustainable development. From wastage as a result of its poor sustainability, the descriptive analytical approach was used, which is the appropriate approach to achieve the research objectives. By analyzing the water sustainability requirements in Iraq.
To achieve water sustainability in Iraq, several measures must be taken, including raising awareness of the importance of preserving water resources, and applying measures to preserve them. Government agencies must also improve coordination and unify efforts to achieve water sustainability.

The problem of food deficit and then the lack of self-sufficiency in the production and manufacture of various foodstuffs, including vegetable oils, is one of the main problems in Iraq, as agriculture in Iraq is still growing at rates that are not sufficient to secure the population’s need for food, and this sector is still suffering from many problems due to the circumstances that have passed the country, in turn, negatively affected the production and manufacturing reality of various foodstuffs, such as the manufacture of vegetable oils. The research aims to measure food gap rates and estimate self-sufficiency ratios of food vegetable oils in Iraq by adopting time series data for the period (1990-2020). The results showed that the annual growth rates of the economic indicators (area and production) of the basic raw material for the manufacture of vegetable oils, represented by essential oil field crops, took a decreasing path during the study period (1990-2020), which resulted in a failure to meet the individual demand and the local industry of vegetable oils. The results of the study also showed that there is a large negative food gap between the production of vegetable oils and the consumption need for them, which recorded an annual average of 225 thousand tons during the study period. The results also indicated that Iraq could not achieve self-sufficiency in vegetable oils, as self-sufficiency ratios during the study period recorded an average annual value of 40%, which is less than half of the total self-sufficiency ratio.

The research dealt with the problem of mismanagement of financial resources, where the importance and effectiveness of Islamic financing tools emerged in the sustainability of infrastructure projects through Islamic sukuk. Reviewing the reality of the infrastructures in Iraq, and extracting a future vision for the role of Islamic sukuk in the sustainability of the various infrastructures projects. Where Islamic sukuk acquire great importance in the field of Islamic finance, as governments can rely on them to stimulate investments in infrastructure projects that were unable to cover the investment expenditures prepared in the items of the state’s general budget.
Islamic sukuk can also be considered as one of the most important Islamic tools that are most effective in attracting individual savings and directing them to various investment fields.
The research aims to know the Islamic instruments as one of the financing tools that are able to provide the necessary funding for various types of projects that help in the development of the economy in many and multiple ways that can push the economy towards sustainable development. The most important finding of the research is that sukuk is a real financing tool linked to physical assets, so it is a useful means for the development of the real economy, as it represents the first alternative to resorting to foreign loans that may burden the local economy, and the success of using Islamic sukuk in Iraq depends on providing the legal and legislative environment And regulatory, appropriate to the current conditions of the Iraqi economy.

The research aims to indicate the level and degree of economic diversification in the Iraqi economy for the period from (2004-2021) based on the Herfindahl-Hirschmann index to measure the extent of diversification of the national economy with regard to macroeconomic indicators that reflect economic performance ,namely (gross domestic product, exports, imports, public budget revenues)The research concluded that the economies of a single resource based mainly on the production and export of crude oil, such as the Iraqi economy, must break its absolute dependence on oil as a basic resource for economic development, and adopt economic diversification as a new development policy aimed at the gradual transition of the Iraqi economy from focus to diversification, of course, in order to create new sources For income away from oil, and the results of the research indicated a weak degree of diversification of the Iraqi economy in its various dimensions, And its continued dependence on oil revenues and exports, which has kept the economy rentier par excellence until now and does not rise to the level of diversification. Therefore, diversification based on the contribution of the various productive sectors in it must be accompanied by the achievement of other goals, in which it is important that the expansion of the activities of these sectors constitute promising alternatives to diversification The economic base and reduce dependence on oil revenues and exports, The inability of alternative economic sectors to the oil sector in Iraq, in which diversification of its activities could constitute promising alternatives to diversifying the economic base and reducing dependence on oil revenues and exports, was not related to a large extent to the scarcity of resources or capabilities, as much as it is a result of the ineffective use of the available capabilities. Because of the inability of the policies that tried to advance these sectors.

The research is concerned with clarifying the reality of the oil sector in Iraq and the most important problems that surround it in terms of its poor exploitation in an optimal manner towards its manufacture into refined products and petrochemical products, as well as the operations related to the exploitation of gas associated with production operations, which burns waste, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the possibility of building a wealth fund Sovereign in parallel with the oil industry, or if the situation remains as it is. Thus, the process of maximizing the benefits of exploitation is getting closer to its goal. Despite Iraq's great position in the international oil market, whether in terms of possessing oil reserves or oil production, the added value of crude oil is still modest, which is evident in the weak potential of the refining industry and related industries, in addition to the lack of exploitation of natural gas.

The problem of depletion of non-renewable resources on the one hand, and the growing demand for renewable ones in a way that exceeds their ability to renew on the other hand, is a pivotal issue that urged specialists in related fields to try to sustain them to the maximum extent possible by adopting the use of the best and most efficient methods available, and seeking to determine the true value of these resources present and in the future, and establish the fact that the ownership of these resources does not belong to the current generations only.
Therefore, it is necessary to strive to perpetuate it for the enjoyment of current and future generations, hence the idea of sustainability of economic resources, whether renewable or non-renewable.
According to this, it requires the decision-maker to focus efforts in setting the correct method for producing and using depleted resources, especially (oil and gas), and using renewable ones, especially (water).
Based on the foregoing, the aim of this research is to discuss the production, use and consumption of some renewable and non-renewable resources for Iraq, with identifying the possibilities through which the sustainability of those resources can be achieved.

The retirement system has emerged in various countries of the world as an effective means to confront the social and economic dangers that appear after a person stops working. An adequate standard of living for people who are no longer able to work, especially for those who have reached the retirement age, as a consideration for the termination of their services, In the form of a retirement salary or a retirement equivalent.
Most of the Arab countries, especially the rentier ones, use the method of granting pensions as gifts granted to categories of citizens who did not work in any institution subject to pension suspensions, but in different capacities such as the families of martyrs or fighters opposed to the previous regimes ... etc., while these are supposed to be organized Individuals have to resort to the social protection system instead of pension funds, and this matter greatly exhausts pension funds and exposes them to bankruptcy, and forces them to request funding from the government, which will generate pressure on the state’s general budget. It achieves the financial sustainability of these institutions. By setting the hypothesis that the use of the correct scientific standards in investing retirement deductions would achieve the financial sustainability of these institutions

: Sovereign funds are one of the tools of the preventive financial policy in Iraq, through which it is possible to face the financial crises that Iraq may be exposed to from time to time, especially the fluctuations to which international oil prices are exposed, as these funds are financed through financial surpluses resulting from the sale of oil und for Iraq to confront financial crises and the research started from the hypothesis that the existence of a sovereign fund in Iraq could contribute to facing financial crises and achieving stability in the reality of financial policy, and the research concluded that Iraq suffers mainly from The lack of real will and a clear vision to establish a sovereign fund to face the challenges facing the Iraqi economy Iraq also needs sovereign funds in order to achieve stability and implement reform programs that must be adopted by the government , The research recommends the need for a strong and real will and conviction among members of the Iraqi Parliament of the feasibility of establishing and the importance of such a fund. It is important for Iraq as they are the most important legislative element, as there is no proposed project to establish a sovereign fund in Iraq without this declaration grate .

This research aims to explain the status of the Iraqi economy between economic crises and resource use management. The most prominent conclusions were that the Iraqi economy can rely on multiple sources of income. Among the most prominent sources that the Iraqi economy can rely on in order to revive it are: border crossings, taxes, agriculture, industry, tourism, especially religious tourism, and many, many other sources. The most prominent recommendations were: It is imperative that the Iraqi economy not be a 100% rentier economy, that is, it should not be an economy that depends on a single source of state revenues, and this is a problem that must be addressed and a solution must be developed for it.

The study aims to show the effect of indicators of corruption perceptions on the oil exports of the Iraqi economy. The simultaneous equations method was used according to the SURE method. The study reached a number of conclusions, the most important of which are:
1- It was reached to accept the hypothesis of the study that the impact of the Corruption Perceptions Index on Iraqi oil revenues has a direct and significant relationship, that is, a higher index means a decrease in corruption in the public sector, which will lead to an increase in oil revenues.
2- It was reached to accept the hypothesis of the study that the impact of Iraq's ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index on Iraqi oil exports has an inverse and significant relationship, that is, Iraq's progress in the ranking of the index means a decrease in corruption in the public sector, which will lead to a decrease in Iraqi oil exports.
3- It was reached to accept the hypothesis of the study that the effects of the number of countries included in the Corruption Perceptions Index on oil prices have an inverse and significant relationship, that is, with an increase in the number of countries included in the index, it will lead to a decrease in oil prices.
Based on the conclusions, we recommend the following:
1- Providing incentives and rewards for employees in the public sector, with the aim of avoiding bribes and corruption in Iraq.
2- Avoiding partisan division by placing the right person in the right place, especially in high positions.
3- It is the responsibility of all employees in the public sector to report corrupt transactions confidentially, while providing the required protection to employees who report corruption.

Nations resort to the approach of reform after the winds of absurdity and corruption burden them, and manifestations of weakness and humiliation result from it, and because it is the decisive tool in shortening civilizational backwardness, restructuring the economy, and correcting imbalances and distortions that would create a future and sow hope in the hearts of the members of society.
The open market operations through the foreign currency auction to influence liquidity levels and achieve stability through the sterilization mechanism are expensive and very costly and cause great financial waste through the gap in the approved official dollar sale pricing and the parallel price circulating in the market, as it reached its peak in 2012 and 2013, and it was ( 3,210,824) million dinars and (3,513,246) million dinars, respectively, and from here the research problem was summarized in the question: Does the currency auction contribute to the formation of financial waste and forms of corruption? The study aimed to identify the concept of reform and to diagnose the arguments and justifications that motivate the achievement of reform, using the model of the foreign currency auction in forming financial waste as it constitutes a form of corruption.
The research started from the hypothesis that there is a significant correlation between the foreign currency window and the achievement of financial waste. The research concluded with a number of conclusions indicating that dollar sales in the foreign currency sale window indicate a waste of financial resources in a large way through the gap in the official dollar sale pricing and the parallel price. In the trading market, it reached its peak in the years (2012 and 2013), when it constituted (3,210,824) dinars and (3,513,246) dinars, respectively.
The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that there is no value for an objective diagnosis in drawing the future of the Iraqi economy unless the economic policy is reformed with its pillars by developing a clear intellectual approach that will get Iraq out of its developmental crisis and to correct its imbalances and the existence of a real national will to work for that reform.

Iraq Economy is an rentier economy as it totally depends on the oil revenues to many and cover the government expenditure for both operational and investment budgets. Despite the great oil revenues during the percid of Iraqi economy suffer from low infrastructural investment coupled with low and decreasing annual growth rates.
The research aims to analysis the current of different sectors of Iraqi economy through its effects an gross domestic product (GDP),Gross fixed capital formulation (GCF) and the per capito income. The results shows that there are minor insignificant effects of oil revenue an the compound annual growth rates of (cagr) different economic sectors such as agricultural sector and industrial sector. The (cagr) of these economic sectors and of GDP and GCF are much lower them of the oil revenue growth .The result also shows that the Iraq economic is really rentier economic and is suffering from what is called the Dutch Desease. A great affords need to be done to improve the infrastructure of the Iraqi economy and strategies and polices import the productivity of the dıfferent sectors of Iraqi economy.

The Aim of this study is to obtain the most important factors influencing the change of behaviors and psychological preferences for the decision to adopt pivot irrigation technology for wheat producers for the desert areas in Ain Al-Tamr district and the sub-district of Al-Har, which belong to the Karbala Governorate as a model, and for the agricultural season (2020-2021), as the primary data was obtained from its field sources on the direct interview method to obtain the biometric data of the random sample the study. As the results proved that technology has great importance in solving production problems, and the methods of spreading information about that technology through social media via the Internet has an impact on the availability of concepts and information about technology and has great importance in disseminating that technology. The government support factor is also of great importance in spreading and adopting this technology through soft loans that lead to raising the percentage of farmers adopting the technology, and the low water levels in the rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) and climate changes have led to directing the behavior and preferences of producers towards adopting pivot irrigation to compensate About the shortage of irrigation water sources, The educational attainment in the field of agriculture also had a significant impact on the behavior of the producer in using modern methods of irrigation, And that the prices of the systems were not suitable for the economic capabilities of the sample members, which must provide the necessary government support to provide these technologies at reduced and subsidized prices, which reduces their high cost for wheat producers in the study area. The results also showed significant differences between the production averages and the consumption of irrigation water by studying the statistical criteria by means of the one-way analysis of variance method (F-Fisher), and that the pivot sprinkler irrigation system had the highest productivity and the lowest consumption of irrigation water in wheat production for the producers of the study sample. And by using the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient measures to show fairness in the distribution of wheat production revenues, the results proved that the community adopting irrigation techniques (modern irrigation) is closer to symmetry and to the curve approaching the equal distribution line, meaning that sprinkler irrigation systems have a role in achieving equality revenue in the technology adopting community, Just as the community of producers of wheat adopting irrigation technologies is less uneven in distribution, which makes the community adopting irrigation technologies better compared to the other community, by which we mean wheat producers using mediated irrigation methods.

The research aims to analyze the role of monetary policy in enhancing international economic competitiveness in Algeria, where countries have adopted several policies and strategies to enhance their economic competitiveness, at the regional and international levels, in order to guarantee themselves an active role in the global economy. An important place among them due to its essential role in achieving economic growth and monetary stability and combating high unemployment rates, and the task of the Central Bank is to plan and draw monetary policy to control the money supply and control financing by means of the tools and means it has to stabilize the cash flow, and then use these tools in a proper way that is in line with the state of the economy And its capabilities, and in order for the central bank to play its role at a high level of efficiency and effectiveness, it must have independence and flexibility away from the interference and pressures of the executive apparatus. This research aims to identify the role of monetary policy in enhancing international competitiveness, with a focus on analyzing the role of monetary policy variables (money supply, interest rate, exchange rate), the research used competitiveness indicators such as (Tin index The World Bank) to express the competitiveness of Algeria. The research concluded that monetary policy did not have an effective role in enhancing the international economic competitiveness in Algeria

The oil revenues that dominate the proportion (99.9%) of the volume of oil exports have become dependent on the development of the economy, in addition to the fact that oil exports have also become linked to oil prices in the global market and the improvement in the value of the dollar, which is the currency of payment for this article, and that the dependence of the Iraqi economy on revenues Oil has had negative effects that were manifested in a deepening imbalance between real economic indicators and monetary indicators, distortion of the trade balance and infected with Dutch disease, which made it vulnerable to fluctuations that occur in global oil prices, and the price of oil has a direct impact on the economic and social stability of the country, through the transmission of its impact on Many macroeconomic indicators, and the focus has been on Iraq as one of the countries that depend entirely on the oil resource in obtaining public revenues, and to determine the changes caused by the fluctuation of oil prices on the indicators of economic stability and related to the movement of economic factors (real and monetary), which contributed to the instability those indicators

The Iraqi economy faces many challenges, the most important of which is the complete reliance on crude oil revenues in financing economic transactions, which formed the cornerstone in building the fragile state and the loss of the local economy. As an outlet for absorbing surplus domestic demand, the research assumes that there is a direct relationship arising from government consumption spending towards the import market in light of the sustainability of the disruption of the production structure and the rentier economy. The general indicators approach was used to denote the values of the variables in question, as well as the use of annual growth rates. The research reached the truth of the positive relationship between government consumption spending and imports of goods and services, which made the Iraqi economy weak in the face of global economic crises, and imports are an outlet for the exit of the dollar. Under several names, the research recommended building productive capacities, supporting productive activities, financing them in an easy way, and creating a business environment with what Iraq aspires to in the near future.

The study aims to measure the impact of economic intelligence on the banking services of private banks in Erbil Governorate. The study reached a number of conclusions, including: The hypothesis of the study proved that there is an impact of economic intelligence in enhancing banking services by (76%) for private banks in Erbil Governorate. Based on the conclusions, we recommend the following:
1-Working to improve the activity of private banks in Erbil Governorate, by paying attention to economic intelligence in order to predict the future of private banks, as well as to face the competition of other banks in the Kurdistan Region-Iraq.
2-Work to establish departments related to economic intelligence within private banks in the Kurdistan Region - Iraq.

The banking sector is the most important component of the financial system, which finances the economic and social sectors with the necessary liquidity, in a way that enhances economic growth and development, through the role of banks in mobilizing funds and employing them productively, as it is assumed that there is a relationship and feedback between the growth of economic sectors and resource development Finance and improving the performance of the banking sector, which depends mainly on adopting targeted economic policies in line with real banking reforms, which helps to avoid crises and external shocks or reduce their impact if they occur, while economic fragility leads to the loss of investment opportunities and the confiscation of the added value of some important sectors. In the local economy, therefore, the relationship between some banking performance indicators and the gross domestic product was analyzed, as well as some of the objectives of the strategic plan of the Central Bank of Iraq 2021-2023 were reviewed and discussed, with reference to the achievements of the banking sector in some Arab countries, to clarify points of imbalance and weak performance The Iraqi banker, and the low contribution of the main sectors in benefiting from bank financing.