ametad

Another week of delay, that’s disappointing.

Good

This is good news!!

Ok, I found the 40 reasons the Kurds aren’t happy with the budget in the other thread. Hmm, I thought the budget was slated to go through today regardless. Anyways, as the dinar turns. . .

40, that’s a lot of conditions. It’s gonna take a while to get through them all in agreement.

What happened to the budget? I thought the budget was next up slated for today, Monday.

Soon, maybe next week...🤣 feels like we’ve been here so many times!!! Promising news keeps coming out, maybe we will actually see some progress this season.

Sounding Good!!

I’m liking the positive news coming out!

Just let it be, it’s the nature human beings that drives the whole thing. Perhaps optimistically, they will change it back to as it was economically before the last series of wars in cooperation with the local region for the better. And perhaps it will be transcendent to reflect positively on the global scale as well. Only time will tell, soon we will know. All in all, it’s a fun dynamic to observe.

That sums it up.

Let’s go Ministry of Energy, this is sounding promising!

Iraq's central bank devalues dinar by 22% amid public anger Iraq's central bank says it will devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, by over 20 percent in response to a severe liquidity crisis brought on by low oil prices By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press December 19, 2020, 1:17 PM ET • 4 min read FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2020 file photo, people shop at old Basra market, Iraq. A leaked draft of Iraq's state budget has spurred panic as it confirmed the government's intentions to devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, and cut salaries to cope with a severe economic crisis. Multiple officials confirmed the authenticity of the 2021 draft budget law that was making the rounds on social media on Thursday, Dec. 17. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani, File)The Associated Press BAGHDAD -- Iraq's Central Bank on Saturday announced it will devalue the Iraqi dinar by over 20 percent in response to a severe liquidity crisis brought on by low oil prices, a measure that has sparked public outrage as the government struggles to cover its expenses. Riot police were dispatched outside the central bank headquarters in central Baghdad prior to the announcement in the event news of the devaluation sparked protests. A leaked draft of the state budget law for 2021 caused furore on the Iraqi street last week as it confirmed plans to devalue the dinar. The new rates represent a dramatic reduction from the previous official rate of 1,182 IQD. It is the first reduction in exchange rates that the Iraqi government has made in decades. In a statement, the Central Bank set the new rate for the dinar, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, at 1,450 IQD when selling to the Iraqi Finance Ministry. The dinar will be sold to the public at 1,470 IQD and to other banks at 1,460 IQD. The devaluation raised the prospects of the dinar weakening further on the street. The rate has already risen to 1,400 IQD per U.S. dollar on Saturday, up from 1,300 IQD last week, at currency exchange agents. “I stopped exchanging currency,” said Abo Abed, who works at a currency exchange in the Karrada neighborhood of the capital. He turned away a customer with a $100 bill, saying he could only sell at the old rate of 1,300 IQD. “Who knows, tomorrow it could be 1,800 IQD.” Since an oil price crash earlier this year, Iraq has been grappling with an unprecedented liquidity crisis. The crude-exporting country has had to borrow from the bank’s dollar reserves to pay the nearly $5 billion in monthly fees for public salaries and pensions. Oil revenues, which account for 90% of the budget, have brought in an average of $3.5 billion. Efforts to introduce reforms have been met with opposition and to date, the government has been borrowing internally to foot state bills. A devaluation would give oil-rich Iraq, which imports nearly all of its goods, more dinars in hand to make urgent payments. But setting a new rate has been a delicate balancing act to satisfy the government's needs for liquidity without impacting the average Iraqi. The Finance Ministry is responsible to allocate salary payments to public workers, the largest working force in Iraq and among the most disgruntled by the new currency measures. The bank justified the devaluation saying it was the product of “intense deliberations” with the prime minister, finance minister and lawmakers, and stressing the reduction in the dinar's value would be a one-time occurrence. “It must be emphasized here that this change (reduction) in the value of the Iraqi dinar will be one-time only and will not be repeated,” the statement said. “The Central Bank will defend this price and its stability with the support of its foreign reserves,” which it maintained are still at stable levels. The bank blamed poor economic policies over the last decade. It said it had “no choice but to intervene” as poor economic planning and fiscal policies from Iraqi politicians have reduced Iraq to a crude-exporting state with the bulk of state expenditures going toward paying a bloated public sector. The devaluation drew the ire of public sector workers. Many fear a weakened dinar, as well as plans proposed in the budget to cut salaries and impose taxes, will amount to pay cuts. While taking a step toward austerity, the proposed state budget for 2021 also calls for record spending projecting a deficit of nearly $40 billion. A Cabinet session to vote on the law was postponed to Sunday. From there, it will be voted on by lawmakers, a challenging task as the cuts are considered wildly unpopular ahead of next year's nationwide elections. “It will be very difficult (to pass),” said lawmaker Sarkawt Shamseddine. “In order to to convince MPs to vote for this big bill the government has to show it has other plans ... to increase revenues. That's the strategy.” Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called for early elections to take place one year earlier than scheduled on June 2021, in line with demands of anti-government protesters. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/International/wireStory/iraqs-central-bank-devalues-dinar-22-amid-public-74819699

The reality of the situation is that Iraq and the IQD has just undergone a 26% devaluation. I was hoping for the other direction.

I’d like to see this voted on and published. Glad to read they are working on the second reading now.

Looks like the PKK (bad kurds) are being forced towards Syria. With Turkish cooperation and Erbil working with Baghdad on this, perhaps a full scale civil war in Kurdistan is being avoided. Progress towards stability in the northern Iraq region is well underway.

I’m not aware of the full implications of this arresting campaign with respect to the Kurds. With that being said I am hopeful that this will help prevent a full scale civil war in the north. Also, I hope that this will strengthen Kurdistan as and within the framework of Iraq rather than allowing Turkish or Iranian counterparts to gain strength in the northern region.

If they can agree on 2021, perhaps in the near future they will agree on the three year budget will all considerations agreed upon. That would be the next positive step I can see in regards to the current economic reform proposal.

Looks like good news here.

I think you’d still have 35%...🤔

Iraq PM warns against use of live rounds after protester death Security forces had opened fire during clashes with protesters in Basra, killing one and wounding at least five others. /wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-11-07T005145Z_1922223998_RC2RXJ9B9OUR_RTRMADP_3_IRAQ-PROTESTS.jpg?resize=770%2C513 Protesters had taken to the streets in the country's southern oil hub on Friday, demanding jobs and basic services [Essam Al-Sudani/Reuters] 7 Nov 2020 Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has warned security forces not to fire at protesters, a day after a demonstrator was killed in the southern city of Basra. “The state will not be lenient with any member of the security forces who violates orders of not using bullets against protesters,” al-Kadhimi said in a tweet on Saturday, adding that the person who killed the protester will be arrested and tried. KEEP READING Iraq: Anti-government demonstrator killed in Basra protests The false promise of early elections in Iraq Thousands mark anti-government protests anniversary in Iraq Security forces opened fire during clashes with protesters in Basra on Friday, killing one and wounding at least five others. The protesters were calling for better living conditions and an end to corruption in the country. The Iraqi Interior Ministry earlier said that a suspect was arrested in Friday’s killing, but without specifying whether he was a security agent. It was the first killing of a protester by security forces in Basra since al-Kadhimi took office in May. During months of anti-government protests that erupted under al-Kadhimi’s predecessor Adel Abdul Mahdi in October 2019, more than 500 people were killed, mostly young unarmed demonstrators. Play Video Deadly flare-ups have been rare since protests against Iraq’s ruling elite subsided earlier this year. The Basra security sources and a rights official told Reuters news agency that several dozen protesters had taken to the streets in the country’s southern oil hub on Friday. They were angry that al-Kadhimi had generally failed to deliver on jobs and basic services and that protest camps had been cleared by security forces in Basra and Baghdad, the rights official said. Al-Kadhimi, who visited Basra on Thursday to tour energy projects and meet provincial officials, has pledged to protect non-violent Iraqi protesters and bring justice to the families of those killed last year by security forces and unidentified gunmen. Security forces in Baghdad last month were ordered not to use live fire in dealing with protests to mark the anniversary of the 2019 demonstrations. Play Video SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/7/iraq-pm-warns-against-use-of-live-rounds-after-protester-death

In my opinion, I believe that Iraq has been developing strategies to regain their pre-war(s) global position for many years. These relationships are with many countries. The last tour of PM Kadhimi went to Germany, France and Britain, to talk about economic reform. Iraq has been developing contracts with Germany for their electrical grid reconstruction. There are relationships working closely with the IMF as well other countries not from the West that are currently engaged with Iraq. In conclusion, Iraq will emerge through this transition of power in the USA continuing to progress out of a International War followed by a Civil War. Furthermore, I do not believe the majority of Washington wants the economic drain of military services in Iraq to continue. All in all things will carry on, progress with respect to Iraq will continue to be made.

That the point, Iraq needs to be able to stand regardless of who’s in political favor in the USA. I’ve been watching this for more than a decade. It’s ridiculous how high all the emotions are, the lasting progress needs to be based on logic and rational thought in the height of emotions.

Yeah, I read it again. The point is that Iraq needs sovereign stability. For Iraq to have a globally recognized currency they must be able to withstand changes within the US Government without causing unrest within Iraq.

If the Iraq government can’t withstand a change in leadership of a foreign country, they are not stable enough to stand behind a change in currency value. Iraq needs to be strong and sovereign. Therefore, the President of the USA should not matter with respect to the value of the IQD. Us Americans aren’t quite as important as we sometimes think we are.