Tuesday News Summaries & Commentaries by Aggiedad77 - 2/24/2015

[ronscarpa]

 

Tuesday News Summaries & Commentaries by Aggiedad77 - 2/24/2015

aggiedad77 » February 24th, 2015 @ 1:10 pm  

Tuesday News Summaries and Commentaries

There appears at first glance to be much news from or about the CBI this morning as well as news of the approved Federal Court Law....also there was quite a bit of activity within Parliament today.

Central Bank suspended currency auction begins remittance system

The governor of the CBI spoke today and explained that the commencement of what he calls the remittance system to deter money laundering and smuggling as well as to prevent funding of terrorist activities....their move comes in compliance with the Central Bank Act to further stabilize the IQD against foreign currency.....cash sales will continue but all auction will cease....they warn banks against complacency....in other words know who you are trading with.....know your customers.

 

(Hamdiya dry) lend to the Central Bank of Kurdistan (PUK) two and a half billion dollars "without guarantees."

The Iraqi Commercial Bank.....is lending the Central Bank of Kurdistan $2.5 billion dollars....meanwhile a member of Parliament from the Liberal bloc is warning the PM, the Finance Minister, and the Integrity Commission to block any of these people from travel outside of Iraq....seems they sense that some wrong doing is associated with this "loan" that does not come with guarantees....interesting.

Economist assured him of financial deposits in banks ... "Iraq will not go bankrupt."

Now this makes a great deal of sense.....as long as Iraq continues to pump oil daily....they will not go broke....the economist claims that there was much talk by some of bankruptcy largely meant to drive ordinary citizens to remove their money from Iraqi banks and store it at home where they believed it to be more safe.....he believes the government will be paying salaries and thus not affect the income of the Iraqi citizens.....he seems to believe the liquidity issues will be short lived.....wonder if he listens to the KTFA CC's.

Economist: the difference in the income and expenditure of the reason for the liquidity deficit

One economist reports that Iraq claiming that the monthly expenses for Iraq amount to 10 trillion dinar and according to PM Abadi what is obtained from the monthly imports amounts to only 3 trillion 600 billion dinars.....the economist maintains that Iraq is working hard to attract foreign capital into Iraq in the form of investments, especially from neighboring Arab nations who see the transfer of power from central to the provinces as a good investment opportunity, especially towards the south, Basra.

Central Bank: the abolition of the daily auctions for the sale of foreign currencies

The CBI points out on Tuesday that the halting of their auctions means that they will cover banking offices, community and government banks by remittances...and this remains in line with the Bank's policies to stabilize the IQD...the Bank will be utilizing other tools found within the Central Bank Act to maintain the strength of the IQD against the USD.

Committee on Economy and Investment parliamentary demanding complete the project retired workers in the private sector law

The Commission on Economy and Investment is asking Parliament to speed up the process surrounding the Unified Pension Act.....they need to take care of the rights of the private sector citizens and employees as well as retirees.

Cabinet decisions Session No. 8 on 02/24/2015

The COM (Council of Ministers) met today and made decisions on 9 separate issues....one included providing $60 million dollars for the purposes of the investment budget agenda.....they made recommendations to Parliament to dismiss an undersecretary of Baghdad from his position.....they approved the draft Federal Law of the Supreme Court and forwarded to Parliament.....they approved work on visas that pertain to tourism and antiquities.....

They approved agricultural efforts between Iraq and Iran to be conducted by the Minister of Agriculture....approved the move of the headquarters of the General Company for Maritime Transport from Baghdad to Basra.....approved the formation of a committee chaired by the Secretariat General of COM with a representative from each ministry to work on the functions of the Inspector Generals office that will include scope of work definitions.....

Council decided that ministries and state institutions will apply administrative investigations and recognize recommendations made in accordance with judicial law.....and lastly, the approved 2 billion dinars to the Ministry of Youth and Sports in support of national teams, depending on available liquidity.

"Iawinh" Kurdish: Region billion dollars borrowed from Turkey

A Kurdish newspaper reveals that Kurd PM Barzani says his government has borrowed from Turkey billion dollars but does not provide specific amounts.....the individual being interviewed by the paper claims that changes need to occur, one of which was the removal of the Minister of Natural Resources....along with calls to change the oil policy of the Kurd province.....this turns into more of a rant of things people would like to see happening in the Kurdistan and around Kirkuk....not sure it will go anywhere at this point.

Cabinet Secretariat organize a preparatory meeting of the National Conference first Government Relations

The COM Secretariat is organizing a prep meeting of the National Conference of Government Public Relations, scheduled for sometime in April....this will lead to the positive shaping of governmental institutions along with the general public relations industry intending to enhance communications between the public and government entities.

D. Kamal Al-Basri *: an open letter to the Minister of Finance Hishaar Zebari message

A member of the Board of Trustees of the Iraqi Institute of Economic Reform is writing a letter to Finance Minister Zebari basically complaining about the lack of transparency in the formation of the 2015 budget...quoting from several laws he says that the Finance Ministry needs to do a better job of sharing with the Iraqi citizens what they are doing and the results of their efforts.....a number of reports that should have been made public or going forward should be publicized....all in all a rather scathing letter to Zebari for what this individual sees as a lack of effort on the part of his Ministry.

Kurdistan looks to lure more tourists as government faces cash crunch

There is more than one way to skin an economic crisis....invite in more tourists to spend more of their money to resolve cash issues.....tourism in the Kurdistan has been hit hard due to terrorist activities closing roadways from southern Iraq into the region....so they look outside of Iraq for tourists to visit and pick up the trade for them.

Iraq's accession to Vta {} problems and lack of currency in the Central Bank of the most prominent economic headlines of newspapers Tuesday

Sort of smothered in amongst other news here is the fact that Iraq is looking to join in with the US IRS FATCA efforts....an interesting turn of events for Iraq.

Claims by applying the health insurance system to increase state revenues

Iraq economists are in favor of implementing health insurance for Iraqi citizens and issuing cards to them that will allow them to pay for coverage for free at government hospitals and health centers....work is ongoing with the Ministry of Health in this direction at this time.

Cabinet approves draft law of the Federal Court as the final approved

COM approved the draft of the Federal Court Law and passed this along to Parliament.....also approved actions in other areas that included visas associated with tourism and antiquities.

Liberals demanding an investigation with the Director General of the Trade Bank of Iraq fined

Liberal bloc is seeking an investigation into an alleged loan without guarantees by the Trade Bank of Iraq to the Central Bank of the Kurdistan for $2.5 billion dollars....they are asking for fines against the Director General of the TBI as well as travel restrictions out of Iraq.

Source: Abadi tried to prevent Turkey from lending a sum of money to the region

He said...that she said....that PM Abadi allegedly made a phone call to Turkey to try and prevent a loan by Turkey to the Kurds but his efforts failed and the Kurds received $500 million dollars from Turkey.

Zarif: the situation in Iraq has changed in five months in a positive way

Yes yes yes....someone is seeing this too...that Iraq's situation has changed in the last 5-6 months....for the better....woohoo.

and agents for "CIA" revealing secret meetings between Blackwater and Arab intelligence and manage money Saddam's secret

So there were alleged claims of smuggling Saddam at one point....or were they attempting to smuggle his vast source of money.....or both.....obviously if they were to smuggle him that failed....but what about his finances....we know that a large amount of that has been seized but has it all be found.

Chuird head of the parliamentary Foreign Relations to discuss with the Turkish ambassador to dry up the sources of terrorism in the region and activating the agreements signed between the two countries

Ministers of Foreign Relations between Iraq and Turkey have met to continue fostering bilateral agreements between the two countries.....Iraq continues to seek strong ties with Turkey.

Defense Announces purge most of the areas surrounding the district of al-Baghdadi

The Ministry of Defense states that the Iraqi Army along with support from tribal militia and local citizens have cleared much of the area around al-Baghdadi of terrorist threats.

Sentenced to five years against a number of senior leaders of the Baath Thi Qar

Senior leaders of the Baath Party in Thi Qar have been sentenced to 5 years in prison, they were accused of being a sleeper cell for the Baath Party and were attempting to resurrect the party.

Ten thousand of the Phalange fighters and Alasaib and Bader are waiting for the zero hour .. fanfare arms above .. and Battle (heated) to liberate the people of Tikrit Gariba..oagela role of science and Albu-Ajeel

Thousands of fighters await orders in towns nearby to Tikrit for an upcoming invasion meant to drive the terrorist DAASH forces from the city.....this battle for Tikrit will open the way for the eventual retaking of Mosul...this effort is coming up from the south....to join forces with Peshmerga forces who already stand poised to overtake Mosul.

A referendum to know the views of Arabs on survival or the secession of Kurdistan

If the Kurds decide on secession....where would that leave the Arabs living in the region.....they are looking to a referendum to express their own views on the process...hopefully it will be heard.

Shibli leads sworn deputy instead of Zurfi implementation of the decision of the Federal Court

As a result of recent Federal Court action of removing several MP's names have now been approved as replacements....being awarded to the candidate who received the highest number of votes as decided by the voters.

Do the poor have benefited from Iraq's oil revenues? / Adel Abdul-Zahra Shabib

The World Bank Group works for the purpose to develop countries and reduce poverty, has shown a report that indicates that while Iraq formerly was making money hand over fist....when the price of oil was above $95 per barrel....little if any of that money was provided to the poor citizens of Iraq....socio-economic development failed in Iraq during those times....only now with the implementation of a new government are any real efforts being seen or implemented to help the 20% of Iraq that is considered to live below the poverty line....shame on that former government and their leader.

Senior Kurdish delegation led by Barzani to visit Baghdad soon to complete the negotiations on outstanding issues

PM Barzani and senior leaders from the Kurdistan will be back in Baghdad soon to hopefully finish negotiations on all outstanding issues for the Kurds.....this includes salary issues as well as questions regarding oil exports.

Euphrates Center in Karbala, discusses the impact of the adoption of the 2015 budget to local governments

Academics in Karbala look at the 2015 budget and analyze how it will impact the provinces and local governments.....much relies on the laws imbedded in the budget and what happens with those.....but money will be allocated to projects through the various ministry departments....accountability will be a strong suit going forward with budget efforts...the price of oil remains a point of contention for all involved...at the end of the meeting many present provided their own respective insights to what lies ahead with the budget.

Economic expert calls on the government to change the fiscal and monetary policy

One economic expert voices her opinion that the government must bring about change to the fiscal and monetary policies if they expect to see true economic reform....it should also be pointed out that much of what Iraq suffers with today is the result of the past 8 or so years at the hands of a government that is being proven on a daily basis to be corrupt and dishonest.....given time the current government is working with diligence to turn this around.

Conscious / mass citizen confirms its intention to approve the project of Basra, Iraq's capital and economic law

The Citizen bloc has announced it's support of the project designed to make Basra the economic capital of Iraq.....the bill to make this a reality is in Parliament now and has gone through its first reading.

Conscious / Secretariat of the Council of Ministers emphasizes the importance of the completion of the government program

The Secretariat General of COM has reiterated the importance of the completion of work regarding the government program, including strategic objectives as well as monthly rates of achievement indicators and the services provided to citizens.

Karbala Council criticizes the Ministry of Industry of the lack of interest in mineral wealth preservation

The head of the Karbala Council is critical of the Ministry of Industry for failing in their eyes to adequately develop the province's mineral wealth...there are vast areas worthy of quarries that could provide wealth and jobs to Karbala that the government at this time is ignoring....as a result Karbala has formed a committee to followup on the efforts of the ministry to provide more attention to their raw material wealth.

Council decides the existence of Baghdad "Barriers" on the transfer of powers to local governments

The Baghdad Council works with the federal government regarding barriers between the local government and federal level....stressing that there will be the need for both to work together even as responsibilities are being pushed to the local levels....they see that success of the program will only happen with appropriate support from the federal level.....like teaching a child to ride a bike...be close by in case of crashes.

PM Barzani: Baghdad Doesn’t Regard Kurdistan as Part of Iraq

PM Barzani is ready to restart negotiations with Baghdad...that enough is enough of the way things are....let's move forward....he points to Kurds being splintered in their opinions of what is right or wrong with the issues between Baghdad and Erbil now and asks for unity by all Kurds both those within the region as well as those who serve in Baghdad....we must all pull in one direction in a common way.

Kurdistan Alliance denies borrowed two and a half billion dollars from the TBI

What??? We didn't borrow $2.5 billion dollars from the Trade Bank of Iraq.....but $250 billion dollars were received from the Ministry of Finance for payment to Kurd employees....get your story straight media.

Trade Bank of Iraq denies lending Kurdistan region of $ 2.5 billion

The TBI is saying it will retain counsel to defend itself against any allegations of wrong doing by those who say they loaned $2.5 billion dollars to the Kurds....it didn't happen.

Zebari: the current crisis as an opportunity to expose the weaknesses of the national economy and restructuring and diversification

According to Finance Minister Zebari the government in 2013 squandered away $18 billion dollars from the DFI fund.....where did this money go....into which pocket....follow the money.....but now Iraq suffers economically for many reasons..but many of those reasons are mismanagement by the former thugs who were in control.....they saw to it that the poor got poorer and their own pockets were lined with money and gold....

now Iraq has to pay the consequences of the current crisis.....the government is looking to implement new taxation rules and requirements that may bring in as much as $13 billion dollars....and at the same time they look to the IMF for grants as well as possible money being lent from abroad.....they really need for the price of oil to turn around and head upwards to help them out of this pickle.

 

Parliament authorizes the Ministry of Finance to borrow from the central bank to cover the deficit

Parliament has given the Ministry of Finance the go-ahead to borrow from the CBI to help cover the issues with the federal budget debt.....this is the 6 trillion dinars that has been talked about in previous days.....they will deal with treasury bonds on the secondary market to do this.....but for them to work in this direction....they need to function as something other than an entity working from a program rate....wonder when they will show their hand revealing how this will take place.

Infallible and legal parliamentary affirm the necessity of joint coordination to expedite the enactment of important laws

President Masum is voicing his authority again today and stating that he and the Legal Committee of Parliament must work closer in their attempt at joint coordination of getting important laws passed for the good of all Iraqis.

Federal Court overturn authentication 23 deputies in Parliament

The Federal Court will soon release the names of 23 members of Parliament that it is denouncing.....it appears these 23 were perhaps awarded their positions by the leaders of their political blocs and not by the popular votes of the people....names are being requested as their replacements.

Deputy Kurdish: There is no disagreement between the federal government and the province on the oil agreement

I am thinking this woman may want to spend some face to face time with PM Barzani......I think she may have been one of the ones he was speaking of just a bit ago......yes the Kurds are coming back to town to talk....to negotiate.....but it is not yet all rosy and pink as she wants others to believe.

Ghaban Barzani and confirm that the unification of security efforts between Baghdad and Erbil represents a serious blow to Daash

Interior Minister Ghaban met with Kurd President, Massoud Barzani to talk about DAASH and security efforts....they both agree that a unified effort by Baghdad and the Kurds will spell the demise and end of DAASH....together they will soon be kicking DAASH butt in an even bigger way and event....watch for it.

I have caught up to JJ and WS finally this morning....enjoy this pile of news and views.

Aloha    Randy

 

 

[waterman13]

Thanks Ron.

Wm13