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Iraq ranks in 11th place worldwide for the amount of money flowing out via crime, corruption and tax evasion over the past ten years, according to Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research and advocacy organization. Illicit outflows of cash averaged $10.6 billion per year. Data for Iraq was not available in 2001-2004, so only the years 2005 to 2010 have been considered. In 2010 alone, an estimated $22.2 billion left the country through illegal channels, putting Iraq sixth worst in the world; in that year, Iraq’s budget stood at $72.4 billion, and its GDP was estimated at $127.5 billion. “This has very big consequences for developing economies“, explained Sarah Freitas, a co-author of the report. “Poor countries lost nearly a trillion dollars that could have been used to invest in healthcare, education, and infrastructure. It’s nearly a trillion dollars that could have been used to pull people out of poverty and save lives.“

but then the kurds stop pummping Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government stopped oil exports two days ago, according to an official of the central government. “Kurdish authorities halted completely crude shipments from fields in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq through the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan” on the Mediterranean, Abdel Ilah Qassem, adviser to Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussain al-Shahristani, said by phone from Baghdad today. Kurds, feuding with the Iraqi central government over disputed land, crude sale revenue and energy contracts terms, have repeatedly halted exports and plan to complete separate export pipelines direct to Turkey in next two years, KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami said Dec. 3. Kurdish authorities have angered the administration in Baghdad by signing agreements with foreign companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Total SA (FP) without permission. Before the closure, crude exports from the Kurdish region had dropped to 6,000 barrels a day from 180,000 barrels earlier this month, Qassem said. “I don’t think that the halt to crude exports is due to technical faults or problems because it is a total halt,” he said without wishing to specify the reason for the stoppage. Iraq exports 2.6 million barrels a day of crude and will increase this to 2.9 million next year, he said. The nation’s average crude output is 3.2 million while oil capacity is 3.4 million barrels and will increase to more than 3.5 million in 2013, Qassem said. Friction has intensified between the central government and Kurdish authorities since the U.S. withdrew its last combat troops from the country at the end of last year. Government soldiers clashed for the first time with Kurdish forces on Nov. 16, leaving one person dead. Iraq holds the world’s fifth-biggest crude reserves, according to BP Plc (BP/) statistics that include Canada’s oil sands.

RAMADI, Iraq — About 2,000 Iraqi protesters, demanding the resignation of premier Nuri al-Maliki, blocked on Sunday a highway in western Iraq leading to Syria and Jordan, an AFP correspondent reported. The protesters, including local officials, religious and tribal leaders, turned out in Ramadi, the capital of Sunni province of Anbar, to demonstrate against the arrest of nine guards of Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi. Their arrest on terrorism charges has sparked a call from Essawi for Maliki to quit or be removed. "We are gathered today not for Essawi and his bodyguards, but to change the course of this sectarian government and to overthrow Maliki's government," Anbar provincial councillor Hikmat Iyada told the protesters. A letter from Sheikh Abdul Malek al-Saadi, a leading Sunni cleric in Anbar, was read at the protest in which he called for Shiites in the government to respect Sunni officials, and the minority Sunni population in Iraq. Maliki was also condemned in a separate statement issued by fugitive Sunni vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi, who praised the demonstration. "Maliki is a prisoner of a sick mind, obsessed with power," said Hashemi, who has been handed multiple death sentences in absentia for charges he insists are politically motivated. "The Islamic and Arab world looks at him now as the sponsor of the Safavid (Iranian) project in Iraq." Hashemi also called for a no confidence in the premier, accusing Maliki of aiming "to get rid of his opponents". Sectarian tensions are still significant in Iraq, which suffered years of brutal confessional violence in which tens of thousands of people were killed and many more forced from their homes.

I was surprised last week to read an article in the Baghdad newspaper Al-Sabah, by its editor Abd al-Jabbar Shabbout, suggesting it was time to settle the “age-old problem” between Iraq’s Arabs and Kurds by establishing a “Kurdish state.” For never before had I heard so heretical a view so publicly expressed in any Arab quarter. And this was no ordinary quarter either. Sabah is the mouthpiece of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Shabbout went on to suggest a negotiated “ending of the Arab-Kurdish partnership in a peaceful way.”He called his proposal Plan-B – Plan-A being what was already in train: namely, a continuous “dialogue” between Iraq’s central government and the Kurdish regional government, conducted within the framework of the “new Iraq” – constitutionally defined as “federal, democratic and parliamentary” – that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein. But Plan-A, Shabbout observed, was going nowhere. Differences – over power and authority, oil and natural resources, territory and borders – were so profound that dialogue had repeatedly failed. And this month it almost came to war. For a while the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga faced each other across the frontiers between Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq in an atmosphere so tense, noted Shabbout, that hostilities could have broken out at any moment. And it wasn’t only Shabbout, but Maliki himself, who warned that if war did break out it wouldn’t be just a war between Kurdish rebels and Baghdad, as it used to be under Saddam. It would be an “ethnic war between Arabs and Kurds.” Be it Plan-A or Plan-B, war or diplomacy, the latest, dangerous standoff has made one thing clear: the “Kurdish question” has now reached another critical stage in its long history, and it is intimately bound up with the regionwide cataclysm that is known as the Arab Spring. It was ever thus for the Kurds, their destiny as a people always shaped less by their own struggles than by the vagaries of regional and international politics, and particularly by the great Middle Eastern upheavals regional and international politics periodically produce. These began, in modern times, with World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. In the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement Britain and France promised Kurds a state of their own, but then reneged on that promise. Kurds became minorities, more or less severely repressed, in the four countries – Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria– among which their vast domains were divided. They repeatedly rebelled against this new order, especially in Iraq. But their landlocked location and their broader geopolitical environment were always against them. Their rebellions were invariably crushed – the last one, under Saddam Hussein, through genocide and the use of chemical weapons. But they never ceased to dream of independent statehood. And the first of two great breakthroughs toward this grew out of the megalomaniac folly of Saddam himself, with his invasion of Kuwait in 1990. One of the entirely unforeseeable consequences of this was the establishment of an internationally protected “safe haven” in northern Iraq that enabled Kurds to take their first state-building steps, in the shape of a regional assembly and a degree of self-government. The second breakthrough grew out of that whole new constitutional order which the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 ushered in. Under it, the Kurds consolidated their already existing autonomy with broad new legislative powers, control over their own armed forces, and some authority over that mainstay of the Iraqi economy, namely oil. From the outset, the Kurds had made it clear that they would only remain committed to the “new Iraq” if it treated them as equal partners, and not, as before, a subordinate minority. It wasn’t long before this ethno-sectarian, power-sharing democracy began to malfunction, and to generate those disputes no amount of dialogue could resolve. And as these disputes deepened, they only intensified the Kurds’ yearning for independence – and their practical preparations for it. Openly or surreptitiously, they began accumulating constitutional, political, territorial, economic and security “facts on the ground,” designed to ensure that, if and when they proclaimed their new-born state, this entity would have the means and ability to stand on its own feet, to thrive and to defend itself. So are the Iraqi Kurds now on the brink of their third, perhaps final, breakthrough, the great losers of Sykes-Picot about to become, 90 years on, the great winners of the Arab Spring? They themselves certainly hope so. “Not only is Iraqi Kurdistan undergoing an unprecedented building boom,” reports Joost Hiltermann in the American magazine Foreign Affairs, “its people are now articulating a once-unthinkable notion: that the day they will break free from the rest of Iraq is nigh.” And Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani often openly alludes to this possibility. “We have had enough,” he says, of the “the dictatorship in power in Baghdad” and of the Kurds’ participation in it. It seems, however, that he awaits one last thing before taking the plunge, another of those game-changing events – such as the breakup of Syria – that can transform the whole geopolitical environment in the Kurds’ favor. But the quarter in which Kurds are actively looking to bring this change about is in Turkey. That they should even think of this is, historically speaking, extraordinary, considering that, of all the Kurds’ neighbors, Turkey probably has most to lose from independence-seeking Kurdish nationalism, and has brutally repressed it in the past. Considering, too, that ever afraid that Kurdish gains elsewhere may be a progenitor of Kurdish aspirations in Turkey, Ankara has long set great store on Iraq remaining united, with its Kurds an integral part of it. But since 2008, in a complete reversal of earlier policy – which had once been to boycott Kurdistan altogether – the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been pursuing “full economic integration” with Iraqi Kurdistan. Meanwhile, its relations with the Iraqi government have been relentlessly deteriorating, with the two now on opposite sides of the great Middle Eastern power struggle that pits Bashar Assad’s Syria, Shiite Iran, Maliki’s Iraq, and Hezbollah against the Syrian revolutionaries, most of the Sunni Arab states and Turkey itself. Under pressures from this struggle, Turkey’s extraordinary courtship of Iraq’s Kurds has continued to bloom, and to move from the merely economic to the political and strategic as well. In fact it has moved so far – the Kurds believe – that Turkey might soon break with Maliki’s essentially Shiite regime altogether, and deal separately with those two other main components of a crumbling Iraqi state, the Arab Sunnis and, more importantly, the Kurds. The allurements that an independent Kurdistan could proffer in return would include its role as a potential source of much-needed, abundant and reliable oil supplies, as a stable, accommodating ally and buffer between it and a hostile Iraq and Iran, and even – in a policy option as extraordinary as Turkey’s own – as a collaborator in containing fellow Kurds, such as the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. Having established a strong presence in “liberated” Syrian Kurdistan, the PKK is now seeking to turn this territory into a platform for reviving the insurgency in Turkey itself. It is even said that Erdogan has gone so far as to promise Barzani that Turkey would protect his would-be state-in-the-making in the event of an Iraqi military onslaught. However, presumably that would never come to pass if, adopting Plan-B, the Maliki regime really is contemplating the seismic step of letting the Kurds go of their own free will. David Hirst is a former Middle East correspondent for The Guardian and author of “Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East.” He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi demanded that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki resign after a "militia force" allegedly raided the ministry and detained its guards on Thursday. Essawi's remarks may reignite a long-running feud between the secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, of which he is a member, and the Shiite premier. "I call on the prime minister to resign, because he did not behave like a man of state," Essawi told a news conference attended by parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, both of whom are also Iraqiya members. Essawi said a "militia force" -- an apparent reference to a security forces unit -- raided the finance ministry and his home "in an illegal act, without a judicial order," detaining all of the ministry's 150 guards. Iraqiya and other members of Maliki's less-than-unified national unity government have accused him in the past year of concentrating power in his hands and moving towards dictatorship. Opposition to Maliki escalated into calls for him to be removed from power, but his opponents lacked the parliamentary votes to do so. Essawi also called on Thursday for the no-confidence proceedings to be reopened. __________________ Samawa

The medical team supervising the health of President Jalal Talabani, held this evening, December 18, a press conference to shed light on the health status of the President. At the beginning of the press conference Naseer al-Ani Head of the Iraqi Presidency Divan talked about the health status of President Talabani, he said that the health of His Excellency President Jalal Talabani is stable. Al- Ani also said that President Talabani is now in good health, thanking all the doctors who supervised the health of the President. Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, during the press conference, said: President Talabani had a health emergency and he was admitted immediately to the hospital, and we have set up a medical team from all specialties, and carried out all the necessary tests to His Excellency the President, and shown that the health emergency of the President was caused by hardening of the arteries. The tests also showed that body functions of President Talabani are normal and that his health status is stable, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health also said, adding that a medical team from Britain would arrive in Iraq tomorrow to oversee the health of the President.

Kuwait is ready to help Iraq address the issue of remains of Kuwaiti prisoners and Kuwaiti properties to quickly close this file, a senior government official said Sunday. “Kuwait has been flexible in helping Iraq exit from Chapter VII (of the UN Charter) and is ready to offer assistance for the Iraqi side to finalize the issue of remains of Kuwaiti prisoners and Kuwaiti properties to speed up the closure of this file,” Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah told reporters on sidelines of a reception by Bahrain Embassy on occasion of the Gulf Kingdom’s 41st Independence Day. Kuwait, he said, had asked the UN to expand the mandate of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to include the search for Kuwaiti properties and remains of prisoners. UNAMI’s mandate can be expanded as the term of Gennady Tarasov, UN high-level Coordinator for missing Kuwaiti and third country nationals and of missing Kuwaiti property, expires later this month. Obligations Sheikh Sabah said Iraq has honored many international obligations with little remaining to be met. Kuwait is ready to provide assistance for Iraq to speed up the resolution of the file of remains of Kuwaiti prisoners, Kuwait national archive and properties. Asked about His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah’s visit to Iraq, Sheikh Sabah said Kuwait and Iraq were preparing 10 cooperation agreements, and “once these agreements are ready, His Highness the Prime Minister will visit Iraq in return of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s visit to Kuwait last March.” Sheikh Sabah said members of Kuwait-Iraq joint committee would be meeting during the first quarter next year.

never enough: how much money does iraq really need for budget? niqash | Seerwan Jafar | Dubai | 13.12.2012 Iraq’s 2013 budget amounts to US$118 billion. But the figures don’t add up. Doing the sums results in one conclusion: unless something is done differently, Iraq will face serious debt and development problems. In late October, the Iraqi Cabinet, headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, approved the 2013 draft budget. The total amount approved was USD $118 billion, making for an US$18 billion increase on 2012’s budget and making the budget Iraq’s highest ever. The draft will eventually go to the Iraqi Parliament for ratification. If one considers the state of Iraq – still plagued by power cuts, growing youth unemployment and almost totally dependent on oil revenues – then an increase is surely a positive thing. But will this upcoming budget do the trick? If Iraq is to become a more developed nation, is this increase enough and is it sustainable? And if it’s not, then what would the Iraqi budget be ideally? A look at the facts and the figures around this issue may help to work out an answer to those questions. Iraq is near to completely reliant on oil revenues. Oil exports account for 95 percent of government revenues and are equal to 70 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and then the subsequent removal of international sanctions, Iraq’s oil production and exports have increased steadily. Exports have risen this has corresponded with an increase in oil prices throughout the 2000s, beginning from 2003. Due to this, Iraqi revenues from the oil sector have increased dramatically and this has been reflected in surges in the annual budget. The 2013 budget is the highest in Iraq’s history. But now we return to the question at hand: how big does the Iraqi budget need to be for it to be adequate? To decide how much is enough, one can look to developed nations for a benchmark - specifically the OECD average, to derive an approximate “ideal” figure from recent expenditure. The following table indicates how much each country spent per citizen in 2009; it also shows the OECD average spend per citizen for 2009. This turns out to be US$15,331 per citizen. Meanwhile Iraq’s 2013 draft budget is US$118 billion. With Iraq’s population of over 34 million this means Iraq would only be spending about US$3,440 per citizen. And if Iraq had to spend the OECD average on its citizens, this would add up to $500 billion. This is nigh on impossible. A look at Iraq’s oil income indicates this: the most that oil income has ever bought Iraq have been US$83 billion in 2011. As Iraq’s highest ever oil revenue is significantly less than its highest budget of (US$118 billion in 2013) and drastically less than the desired budget of over US$500 billion, it quickly becomes evident that oil revenues are never going to cover Iraq’s spending needs. Of course some might argue that the increasing Iraqi oil production will allow the government to meet Iraq’s fiscal needs in the future. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem very likely. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and the highest that country has ever earned from oil revenues was US$318 billion in 2011 – still a way away from US$500 billion required in an “ideal” budget. The International Energy Agency predicts that Iraq will produce more and more oil – up to 4.4 billion barrels per day by 2020 – but the revenues from that won’t even cover Iraq’s budgetary needs today, let alone in 2020 when the population will have risen to an estimated 41.8 million people. In conclusion, even a simple look at these figures indicates that Iraq will have to look into diversifying beyond its oil revenues if it is ever to develop as a modern nation. The Iraqi government must shift gears and begin broadening revenue streams in order to meet the country’s needs and to see Iraq flourish as a modern nation in the years to come.

I dont see this happening till baghdad and kurks come to some agreement with 140, under chapter 7 iraq cant go to war so with all the talk of Maliki sending troop to kurkdish borders and kurks setting up for war if thats what Mr M wants they will hold chapter 7 over his head.jmo So I am watching for 140 agreement then you will see the kurds pump more oil then baghdad and iraq we be swimming in money

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Twenty-five billion Iraqi dinars (21.4 million dollars) have gone missing from the federal bank in Erbil, the Kurdistan Regional Government disclosed this week, and a finance ministry official said the money had been embezzled by a bank worker and a private contractor. “After we investigated some small errors in the bank’s accounting, we discovered that a huge amount of money is missing,” a senior official at the finance ministry told Rudaw, adding that the ministry had formed a committee to investigate the case. The Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Finance Rashid Tahir, confirmed the news, saying, “It is true there is a problem at the federal bank of Erbil and a lot of money has gone missing.” He said that the committee investigating the case would, “send the outcome of the investigation to the court for legal action.” This is the second case of its kind in the autonomous Kurdistan Region. Two years ago 2.5 billion dinars were unaccounted for at the same bank. The head of the bank and his accountant were both arrested by police. In the latest incident, the finance ministry official said that a female bank worker and a private contractor were involved in the embezzlement. “The worker (identified by her initial, ‘B’) had entered into a deal with a contractor. She let him withdraw the money, although he did not have the funds in his account,” the official said.

Stop Fundamentalism – Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani warned the Iraqi people on his official website that the political process preventing an Iraqi civil war is facing major threats. He blamed lack of trust among different political groups to be the cause of the rising tensions. Earlier, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki sent in the Iraqi troops into disputed territories of Iraq along the boarders of the self-governed Kurdistan region were Kurdhish Peshmarga forces are present. "Most worrying is that these threats have lead to force mobilization on both sides," President Talabani wrote referring to Iraqi troops and Kurdish Peshmarga forces. "Such development is very dangerous for the political process and may lead to serious events not benefiting the security of the country and well-being of its people." Also, Al-Maliki ordered today a freeze on payments of all salaries paid to the staff of offices of the Defense and Sate Ministries based in the Kurdish region including two military divisions in charge of protecting Iraq's President, Talabani. Meanwhile, a Kurdish Peshmarga top commander, who wanted to remain unknown, spoke to the media and warned Baghdad today that he has a 30,000 man strong army ready to deploy if Nouri Al-Maliki does not pull back his forces.

Ban Ki Moon to Maliki: We are interested in what's going on with Kurdistan United Nations Secretary-general, Ban Ki Moon emphasizes that they are interested in the ongoing events between Baghdad and erbil. Ban Ki Moon said in a joint-with Maliki- press conference attended by "Shafaq News" that "I told Mr. Maliki in our today's meeting that what is going on between the government in Baghdad and Kurdistan region raises our attention". Ban Ki Moon arrived –with his accompanied delegation- Baghdad this morning in order to discuss issues related to Kuwaiti-Iraqi relationship as well as other issues.

Said Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation Ali Yousef Shukri existence and financial abundance distribution of the 25 percent of the surplus oil imports between citizens, and according to the law of the state budget for the year 2012. He said in a statement to (Center Brief for the Iraqi Media Network): that Iraq possessed and financial abundance for the distribution ratio of 25 percent of oil imports between the Iraqi people, warning that the text inserted in this aspect in the budget this year is a law, so it is assumed that performs like other laws that have been its legislation, according to the saying. He said the ministry has completed all preparations required for the implementation of this law, but it was waiting for Parliament and the Council of Ministers to take a decision in this regard, reminding that the text of the Federal Budget Law for the year 2012 the Council of Ministers is required to implement this legal text. He explained that next year's budget did not include the allocation of 25 percent of the surplus oil imports for distribution among the citizens, but he expressed hope the establishment of the House of Representatives seeking to re-inclusion of this provision in the budget. The budget year 2012 had included a provision (the Federal Council of Ministers allocating 25 percent of the increase in revenue from exports of crude oil exported achieved during the year 2012 after paying disability and deposited in the Fund distributes cash to the Iraqi people instructions issued by the Minister of Finance in coordination with the Minister of Planning).

First leg: economic freedom For decades there was Keynesian thought based on the effective state intervention in economic life to control the market and address Achtlaladtha and up to the highest run of the energies of productivity, employment and controlling inflation. Go thought Keynesian of premises objective notably the inability of markets itself to control the economy, but Bklv economic and social very high, in other words that the market forces will lead to cases of contraction and prosperity successive take ranges of time is nothing short and affect positively or negatively in all aspects of life, so the role of State became radically to adjust the rhythm of economic activity, accompanied by this vision of historically intense competition between socialist thought and its applications and capitalist thought and the need to seek victory capitalist thought in the face of phenomena fully operational and distributive justice and health and social care and free education in socialist societies. . Thought اwins big and succeeded in leading capitalist societies towards the welfare state and the emergence of a broad middle class, but in contrast trimmed relatively size business profits. . On the other hand adopted Milton Friedman and the University of Chicago fierce attack on thought from that markets inherently capable of amendment itself without any need for state intervention, but that state intervention in any form would lead to market distortions. . Sums up the role of the state, according to Friedman in the army and the security and justice (protect the system from external and internal enemies) and public administration. The Holy Trinity Friedman in privatization and curtail the role of the state and reduce public spending. . Applied theory Friedman at the hands of Reagan and Thatcher and achieved successes striking at the expense of the majority of the population who have suffered the tyranny of capital and the accumulation of profits are obscene compared to unemployment rates is remarkable previously deteriorating social welfare systems and health. Reinforced this policy under the rule of Bush but the bubble burst in the 2008 crisis. Strengthened thought Friedman in monetary institutions and financial crisis, and applied his theory is wild and catastrophic in many countries such as Chile 1973 and Russia after 1990, Poland and others where the form of the concept of shock and restructuring the general framework of economic policy (for details reviewing Shock Doctrine to Naomi Klein). Second leg: the occupation of Iraq . Adopted the United States in its campaign for the occupation of Iraq on the principle of shock and awe to subjugate the Iraqi people, and not, as falsely reported only to overthrow Saddam, leading to the restructuring and the creation of the nation in the new Iraq. Has deliberately spread chaos in all aspects of life under the title of creative chaos and devoted and encouraged the concepts and values ​​distorted life-like sectarianism, systematic looting, unrestrained freedom, graft, selfishness and lack of interest in public affairs. . Plunged the country into sectarian war political pillars encouraged such Governing Council and the constitution and the formation of parties, utilizing various tools and instruments, including government agencies. Not so haphazardly, remember the opinion of Rumsfeld's proposal to construction (read restructuring) from scratch. . Should therefore abandon all community cultural heritage and legacy and achievements throughout history and up to the building from the ground up and point configuration or the creation and launch of new imported values. The voices of resistance peaceful community is weak in the face of a massive tsunami is unprecedented and still sounds community is fragmented and weak and fights violently by the forces of chaos project. Third leg: the economic shock . Was the economic shock, working on the return of the Iraqi economy to the zero point, stall full state sector production and seeking to privatize it, and demobilization large to large segments of workers in the state sector, open up trade (import) without any controls or restrictions, create chaos fiscal and monetary, tax fixed income have been applied mainly to employees. These actions left the economy in a state of paralysis and chaos, and stop domestic production for lack of necessary production requirements and the lack of ability to compete with a flood of imported goods. Commercial agency activities flourished and work for the benefit of foreign companies that got all contracts awarded by the occupation authority except little margin for minor work. There is no longer an economic policy, trade, financial and monetary, but just implementing tools for policy of the occupying power. The economy practically reached the stage of zero and ready for restructuring according to unbridled capitalist perspective. Fourth leg: Economic Policies Preoccupied with economic policy in the first year of the occupation (under Bremer's administration) in the treatment of all prior and contemporaneous bottlenecks and consisted mainly in extinguishing the country's foreign debt and replace the old currency and control the exchange rate and provide the necessary liquidity for the activities of the state and society. Shape the transition to a market economy icon magic of the economic policy of new Fajtsr Central Bank's role to just a source to provide dollar cross currency auction without any serious attention to (sustainable development, operation and economic prosperity) as provided in the law of the bank who left chaos hit in length monetary market and display (see our paper analytical: the current Iraqi monetary crisis: bubble fleeting or the appearance of a deeper economic crisis? May 2012) and shortened fiscal policy in just finance government expenditure. To our knowledge, did not provide authorities of monetary and fiscal any analytical studies of primary keys in their work, such as exchange rate optimization and its impact on employment and production and trade balance, bank credit, the control of foreign exchange (ironically he instead attention to this aspect has been canceled Control Department of foreign transfers as well as the Department of credits), the impact of government spending on operation and production, the impact of fiscal policy on monetary indicators, the impact of fiscal policy on the distribution of home ......... etc.. This is not surprising as long as the policy of the government lacks any vision development strategy in light of the absolute conviction that the market economy is the key for each crisis and which has been translated into unbridled economic policy. كانThis is not only a reflection of the theory of Friedman calling to let market forces interact freely to reach equilibrium (unplanned) even if at the expense of the majority of the population. Has sought the occupation authority and later the elected governments to privatize the oil industry and health and other, but had encountered fierce resistance from specialists and people, making it postpone the move. Instead of activating these sectors left in the recession distasteful still exists so far. To meet the broad protests successive governments have not been able to reduce the size of government spending but he left without real planning and thoughtful but went mainly to cover the expenses of the government operational characterized Balanflat. The role of the state has the size and strikingly leader and no longer directed to economic and community life and withdrew mainly to security role. . All of this was the impact of the strong push from foreign experts and the International Monetary Fund where the thought Friedman dominance and clear. This effect has been translated into binding agreements unknown details with the International Monetary Fund. Reached the severity of impact to note that studies sober for some experts posted on the central bank, with an emphasis that it does not reflect the opinion of the bank! . Which does not rely on policy-making, where adopt other policies aligned with the directives of the Fund. Fifth leg: Shabibi crisis / central or overall economic policy crisis Argue that the current crisis is not about the person Shabibi, a prominent economist highly respected and not the bank as much as cadre of economic policy generally. We understand that an independent central bank, but within the framework of the implementation of the general economic strategy be binding in the general trends of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance to achieve the desired objectives. Independence comes after the adoption of economic strategy for the removal of the bank and its policy for immediate political whims and short-term political interests of the various political blocs and keep him away from the whims of the government affected by political conflicts. Within this understanding, the central bank is a safety valve for hard currency reserves as a reserve for the country and for the local currency. . The state has stipulated that the central bank not to act in this reserve only within the law, any law central bank law has prevented the government from manipulating this reserve for any purpose whatsoever. Law and be held accountable if the central bank failed to maintain an adequate reserve and increase and if they failed to support the stability of the local currency or meet import needs. . The central bank held accountable if adopted exchange rate of the local currency is overstated (as is the case now ") leads to maximize imports and hinders the growth of gross domestic product. And accountable government, presumably, if they failed to manage their financial resources in the form in which to achieve sustainable development. And accountable government if painted strategy lead to damage to the value of the local currency as a result of import liberalization and disrupt the gross domestic product. Focused the government's economic policy, influenced by Western advice, in support of unrestrained economic freedom and the central bank tool her. Blamed the central bank and moral leadership for not opposing directions of the Government and the effects of its policy statement unrestrained economic life and the lives of the people but of the defective questioning their integrity. Isolating the leadership of the Central Bank is trying to blame the central bank only disliked the government for its economic policy unrestrained and failed and will not do any useful as long as the strategy remain unchanged. There is no doubt that the tightening of controls on the transfer of hard currency will lower the phenomenon of flight of hard currency abroad but just make Triqiei in the absence of a national economic strategy to consolidate sustainable development. ا What is needed is a sound economic strategy develop the economy and provide prosperity. The escape to the front is not a solution. * Iraqi economic

11-5-12 LoriC: The news continues to be outstanding. The United Nations, U.S., Tony Blair, Fox News etc., all reporting that Iraq's economy is thriving and they are also being praised for their efforts with Kuwait and should be released from Chapter 7 very soon. Kuwait is investing their new reparations back into Iraq, what's that tell you? This is not the first time either, they did the same thing last year. Even the country Iraq invaded knows they are a good investment, the whole world does and is putting their money where their mouth is. Iraq has been put on the fast track to recovery and despite the fight for control over their Central Bank they have stronger international support than ever before. This should be over by January at the latest IMHO. Kuwait denies rumors on compensations settlement November 06, 2012 KUWAIT TIMES: Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al- Khalid Al-Sabah has denied hints dropped by a top UN official about Kuwait having agreed to a settlement as per which the remaining compensation due for the 1990/91 Iraqi Invasion is to be converted into investments in Iraq. Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Martin Kobler, was quoted by news agencies on Monday as saying that Kuwait agreed to have the remaining compensation invested instead of being paid in cash as a bid to help Iraq fulfill its obligations and ultimately be freed from Chapter VII sanctions. “This case has been settled by the Security Council, and Mr. Kobler might as well be asked about what exactly he meant,” Sheikh Al-Sabah said in a statement published by local newspapers yesterday. The foreign minister further indicated that Iraq “has shown commitment in paying all dues as per the agreed upon schedule.. The source [quoting Kobler] might say what he wants, but the issue remains subject to the Security Council’s resolutions,” Sheikh Al- Sabah said. Meanwhile, Director General of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Rabah Al-Rabah said that the state was keen on developing trade relations with Iraq and stressed the need to improve land border exits to ease logistic travel. Sea ports also play an integral part in increasing trade in the region, he said during a meeting with a group of visiting Iraqi journalists, highlighting the northeastern Mubarak Al-Kabir port as an example, which he said would aid increasing this between the two neighbouring countries. Appropriate information on investment opportunities across Iraq’s provinces should be provided to Kuwaiti investors, he said. He also commended economic, trade and investment relations between both countries. Kuwait’s Chamber of Commerce of Industry will in turn be providing Iraqi companies with all the necessary information regarding trade and investment laws in Kuwait, said its Deputy Director General Hamad Al-Omar.

"The Council of Ministers decided in its meeting on Tuesday to approve the financial provision of $ (10) million to the Republic of Sudan to ease the burden on the affected in Darfur as to be allocated from the bill of the federal budget of 2013.” Dabbagh said that the Foreign Ministry had demanded on 10th of June 2012 the Council of Ministers to submit the issue of providing the financial support to Sudan as the Legal Department in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers endorsed the submission of the issue on 20 of September 2012 to the Council of Ministers. " "Demanding this request came after the Sudanese Minister of Finance submitted the critical conditions experienced by Sudan after the separation of the south, which resulted in a significant loss of oil resources and its revenues that affected negatively on the general budget and payments budget as well as the suffering of Darfur." Al-Dabbagh confirmed that "the Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Iraq sent in the 4th of June 2012, a memorandum to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry along with a message addressed to the Iraqi Minister of Finance from his Sudanese counterpart on providing financial support up to (100) million dollars to ease the burden because of the critical situation that is taking place in Sudan and on the basis of what is stated in paragraph (3) of the extraordinary Sirte summit, decision No. (545) on 9/10/2010. " It is worth mentioning that Iraq deposited last July of the current year one million dollars in the account of the Arab League as a donation to the Palestinian Authority and its people.

The Eid al-Adha holiday did not contribute to unblocking the political crisis that Iraq has been going through since the end of last year. This has pushed the State of Law Coalition — headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — to proceed with its attempts to achieve a majority and form a government. The holiday ended, but Maliki, Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani and head of the Iraqiya List Ayad Allawi did not exchange holiday greetings. This reflects the deep-rooted differences over the crisis, as well as the difficultly of the mission that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani undertook to prepare for a conference that includes all political forces. Political sources told Al-Hayat that Maliki’s coalition had reached a preliminary agreement with a number of blocs — some of which are included in the Iraqiya List — to form a majority government. The sources revealed that “among these blocs is the Unity Alliance of Iraq, led by Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, and some members of parliament from the Kirkuk, Mosul, Anbar and Saladin provinces.” The sources explained that “the blocs within the National Alliance — except for the Al-Ahrar bloc, which represents the Sadrist Movement in parliament — are supporting this political step.” The sources confirmed that “the prime minister seeks to divide the Iraqiya List and the Sunnis by including tribal leaders and former Baathists, and by re-enrolling all former army officers.” The sources noted that “he briefed the Kurdish delegation that visited Baghdad before the Eid al-Adha holiday about the results, asked them to join the government and suggested including the Kurdish opposition.” The sources added that “the delegation requested to be given time to respond to the offer, after referring the issue to the leadership represented by Talabani and Barzani.” The sources said that “Maliki expressed his willingness to resolve the problems between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, provided that the Kurds join the government.” As for the separation of the Kurdistan Region from Iraq, in case a majority government is formed, the sources ruled out the possibility of Barzani taking this step “for two reasons: first, the regional and international situation, particularly the United States’ position opposing this separation. And secondly, because the rest of the Kurdish parties and blocs do not support such a step at present.” The sources pointed out that such a step would serve “Maliki’s interests in the upcoming elections.” It is to be noted that the former minister of higher education, Abd Diab al-Ujaili, a member of the Iraqiya List, said in a statement yesterday [Oct. 29] that “the majority government represents competitive democracy, which is the finest form of democracy that is based on the concept of majority and minority.” Ali al-Sajri, secretary-general of the People's Movement within the Iraqiya List, criticized the current government of national partnership, adding that “it is a partnership of gains and benefits,” and expressed his support to “the formation of a political majority government.” Moreover, the Iraqiya List warned that “the political process will collapse if a majority government is formed.” Member of Parliament Nabil Harbo said, “The political situation is aggravated, differences among the blocs are significant and there is a political competition for power, in light of the non-enforcement of agreements between the blocs and the situation in the region. All this sparks concern if the crisis continues.” He added: "Time is running out fast, and it is necessary that the Erbil agreement be enforced in order to resolve the problems.” He said that “the delay in holding the national conference to solve the problems and foiling President Talabani will lead to the collapse of the political process.” He will join up with baathist, chauvinist and kurd haters to form dictatorship government just wow. if Barzani doesnt declare independence then all hope will be lost, screw the american opionen its time to do whats best for kurdish interest.

Iraq said on Tuesday that a $500 million settlement had been finalised with neighbouring Kuwait to end a decades-long dispute between the two countries’ state-run airlines. The agreement, which was not immediately confirmed by Kuwait, is the latest sign of warming ties between Baghdad and Kuwait City, after Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Iraq’s oil-rich neighbour. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah told his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari that Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah signed a decree authorising the $500 million settlement, a statement posted on the Iraqi foreign ministry website said. The statement said that the decree “cancels all restrictions and complications in rebuilding Iraqi Airways, and it is now free to buy new planes and build a fleet.” The decree was to be published in Kuwait’s official gazette on Tuesday. Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, after which flights between Iraq and its small neighbour to the south were suspended. Authorities earlier this year gave approval for direct flights between the two countries to finally resume. During a visit by Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki in mid-March, Kuwait agreed to the $500 million deal with Baghdad aimed at ending a debt dispute that saw an Iraqi Airways flight impounded in London. According to Kuwait Airways, Iraq’s flag carrier owes it $1.2 billion as a result of the 1990 invasion. Kuwait says 10 of its planes as well as aircraft parts were plundered after its airport was seized during the invasion. The dispute saw British authorities seize the passport of Iraqi Airways chief executive Kifah Hassan Jabbar and impound the plane which he flew to London in April 2010. The incident marred Iraqi Airways’ first commercial flight from Baghdad to London in 20 years. Iraq and Kuwait in March reached an agreement under which Iraq will pay Kuwait $300 million in cash and invest $200 million in a joint airline venture in return for Kuwait lifting legal actions against Iraqi Airways. “According to the decision all restrictions and difficulties rebuilding Iraqi airlines and on its freedom to buy new planes and establish its fleet will be lifted,” the Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement said. Iraqi Airways has regular flights to Middle Eastern destinations such as Beirut, Dubai, Tehran and Amman, but legal cases made it difficult to start flights to European destinations where it risked its planes being confiscated.

BAGHDAD, — Minister of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG Ashti Hawrami announced Sunday that "Kurdish region will abide by the decision to hand over produced oil to the federal government for exporting it". In a statement by Iraq's Deputy Premier for Energy Affairs Hussein Shahristan, a meeting was held among Sharistani, Iraq's deputy premier for economic affairs Roj Nouri Shawais and Hawrami to exchange views connected with oil issues between Baghdad and Erbil. The Kurdish negotiating delegation, except opposition Change Movement, arrived on Saturday in Baghdad, comprising of former Kurdistan PM Dr Barham Salih (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK),www.ekurd.net Jaffar Ibrahim (Kurdish Democratic Party), Mohammed Haji Mahmoud (Secretary of the Kurdish Socialist Party) and a number of other Kurdish political parties. The delegation held a meeting with Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani to agree on the bases to be discussed with Baghdad. Relations between the central government in Baghdad and Kurdistan government have been strained after disagreements over private oil contracts concluded by the Kurdistan region with a number of foreign companies which Baghdad deem "illegal". No alternative but dialogue, Barham Salih says PUK's deputy secretary general Barham Salih said in Baghdad Sunday that "dialogue is the best and only solution to problems between Baghdad and Erbil", pointing that the dialogue with the National Alliance was "frank and cordial". Salih, in a joint press conference with the National Alliance, described the meeting as "cordial and frank with certain emphasis on the constitution and the implementation of it is article for the benefit of the whole Iraqi people, not a certain component". He stressed the importance of the dialogue to lay out a road map to solve all problems. UPDATE 1-Iraq's Kurdistan agrees to raise oil exports in 2013 Oct 22 (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan has agreed to export 250,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2013 if Baghdad pays operators in the autonomous region, the Kurdish regional government (KRG) said, a move to ease their dispute over control of the country's crude. Kurdistan halted shipments of its oil in April in protest over what it said was the central government's failure to pay foreign oil companies, but resumed exports after reaching an initial deal in September. FREE GUIDES AND REPORTS FROM DIANOMIADVERTISEMENT Guardian Stockbrokers Trade a wide range of markets, pro charts, open an account in minutes Find out More The agreement was reached during a visit to Baghdad by a Kurdish delegation, which met ministers from the federal government to iron out disagreements over the 2013 draft national budget. Current KRG shipments are around 140,000 barrels per day and are expected to rise to 200,000 bpd by the end of the year. "The two sides agreed for Kurdistan to export 250,000 barrels of oil per day on the condition that the Iraqi government makes payments to the oil companies in Kurdistan," the KRG said on the Arabic page of its website. The oil payment dispute is part of a broader feud between Baghdad and Kurdistan over control of oil and contested territories that has dragged in major companies like Exxon Mobil , Chevron and Total. Baghdad rejects the deals signed between Kurdistan and oil companies as illegal and has blacklisted some that have ventured into the northern Kurdish region. Kurdistan says its right to grant contracts to foreign companies is enshrined in the Iraqi constitution, which was drawn up following the 2003 invasion that ousted Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. The Kurds have since passed their own oil and gas law whilst disagreements among Iraq's Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions in the national power-sharing government have delayed a long-awaited hydrocarbons law aimed at ending disputes between the two regions over crude resources.

BAGHDAD, — Minister of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG Ashti Hawrami announced Sunday that "Kurdish region will abide by the decision to hand over produced oil to the federal government for exporting it". In a statement by Iraq's Deputy Premier for Energy Affairs Hussein Shahristan, a meeting was held among Sharistani, Iraq's deputy premier for economic affairs Roj Nouri Shawais and Hawrami to exchange views connected with oil issues between Baghdad and Erbil. The Kurdish negotiating delegation, except opposition Change Movement, arrived on Saturday in Baghdad, comprising of former Kurdistan PM Dr Barham Salih (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK),www.ekurd.net Jaffar Ibrahim (Kurdish Democratic Party), Mohammed Haji Mahmoud (Secretary of the Kurdish Socialist Party) and a number of other Kurdish political parties. The delegation held a meeting with Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani to agree on the bases to be discussed with Baghdad. Relations between the central government in Baghdad and Kurdistan government have been strained after disagreements over private oil contracts concluded by the Kurdistan region with a number of foreign companies which Baghdad deem "illegal". No alternative but dialogue, Barham Salih says PUK's deputy secretary general Barham Salih said in Baghdad Sunday that "dialogue is the best and only solution to problems between Baghdad and Erbil", pointing that the dialogue with the National Alliance was "frank and cordial". Salih, in a joint press conference with the National Alliance, described the meeting as "cordial and frank with certain emphasis on the constitution and the implementation of it is article for the benefit of the whole Iraqi people, not a certain component". He stressed the importance of the dialogue to lay out a road map to solve all problems.

Southern exports rise to 2.30 mbpd so far in October * New oil terminals help boost shipments during 2012 * Iraq aims for total October exports of 2.8 mbpd By Alex Lawler, LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil exports from its southern ports have rise by 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) so far in October versus last month, according to shipping data, suggesting the country is on course to reach its highest export rate in decades. Exports from Iraq's south have averaged 2.30 million bpd in the first 18 days of October, the data show, up from 2.18 million bpd in September. Shipments in August of 2.25 million bpd were the highest since before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Iraq exports most of its oil from the south, where the opening of new export outlets and investment by foreign companies in oilfields are increasing shipments. A rise in Iraqi supplies this year helped to keep a lid on prices as Western sanctions targeted Iran's exports. "They have the production and the export capacity, so they are ramping up," said a source at a Western oil company which buys Iraqi oil. "And for once, Iraq is having smooth export programmes and operations." Including around 400,000 bpd from Iraq's northern fields, Iraq looks on course to export more in October than September's level of 2.6 million bpd - which was its highest total exports in more than 30 years. Iraq is aiming to boost shipments to above 2.8 million bpd this month, an Iraqi oil official said last week. To get there, it would need to crank up southern exports even more in coming days, and increase shipments of Kirkuk crude in the north. Exports of Kirkuk were scheduled at 430,000 bpd in October, a trader said, higher than September. Helping boost supplies, Iraq's Kurdistan region decided to keep its exports flowing as part of a deal with Baghdad to end a payments dispute. Crude produced in Kurdistan is fed into the Kirkuk export stream shipped from Ceyhan in Turkey. Delays to loadings, caused by intermittent flows through the pipeline from Iraq to Turkey, have so far been relatively minor, said a buyer of the crude. "So far, it's very smooth," a trader said, referring to Kirkuk exports. Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region agreed last month to settle a dispute over oil payments after the Kurdistan Regional Government promised to continue exports and Baghdad pledged to pay foreign companies working there.

In yesterday meeting, KRG president met with all of KRG political parties except Gorran who had announced it will not participate earlier. In the meeting it was decided to send a delegation to baghdad which will consist of all of the political parties of KRG, the delegation will give baghdad a time frame to solve the outstanding issues, should baghdad fail to deliver within this time frame, then all of the parties will return to the voice of kurdish citizens to decide their fate for the region including the sliced off areas.

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) -The Council of Ministers tasked the head of the Financial Supervision Department, Abdul Basit Turki, to run the Iraqi Central Bank as a substitute for the current Governor of the ICB, Sinan al-Shibibi. The Iraqiya Satellite Channel quoted the Advisor of the Premier, Ali al-Musawi, as saying “The Council of Ministers decided to task Turki to run the ICB till further notice.” Earlier, a source from the Parliamentary Committee tasked to investigate the corruption cases in the Iraqi Central Bank revealed that “The Governor of the ICB, Sinan al-Shibibi, called the Premier, Nouri al-Maliki, to dismiss four Directors in the Bank for their involvement in corruption cases.” The source stated to IraqiNews.com “Shibibi have asked Maliki since three years to dismiss the four directors for they are responsible of the corruption taking place in the ICB yet Maliki rejected.” “One of the investigation judges issued an arrest warrant against Shibibi but the UNAMI, the US Embassy in addition to the Presidency as well as some of the political leaders interfered and called the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Midhat al-Mahmoud, who was not informed about the warrant,” the source added. “Mahmoud issued an order to cancel the warrant and punished the judge who issued it considering arresting Shibibi as impacting the sovereignty of the country,” the source concluded.

Kurdistan is taking its first steps towards gaining independence from Baghdad in the sale of its oil and gas with a convoy of trucks taking the condensate liquid fuel bi-products of a remote gas field directly into Turkey. At least 15 trucks a day are loading up with high quality condensate at Khor Mor's gas plant and then trundling down a bumpy road to start the two-day journey to Mersin on the Turkish Mediterranean. In return, Turkey is trucking back small quantities of diesel fuel and kerosene to use in the autonomous region's power plants. "It's a very simple but symbolic start to direct oil trade between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Turkey - and there will be more to come," said an official familiar with the barter-type operation between private companies. "Neither side is thinking about stopping." But Baghdad wants them to. It believes Iraq's central government has the sole right to export oil and gas produced throughout Iraq and says deliveries by truck from Kurdistan across the border into Turkey are illegal. Ankara is meanwhile encouraging the swap, which kicked off with five tankers in July. And Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz says the volume could gradually build up to 200 trucks a day - roughly 40,000 barrels per day (bpd). Industry sources say the KRG is now supplying only Khor Mor condensate, but crude oil from other fields will also be exported. "Turkey believes that Kurdistan's export of oil and gas does not run contrary to Iraq's constitution," said the official, who asked not to be named. "And Turkey is a logical exit route for the KRG," he added. The KRG's oil can be shipped to world markets through a Baghdad-controlled pipeline from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. But this has been a stop-start process over the years due to a long-running feud between Baghdad and Arbil, the KRG's seat of government, over oil and land rights. The KRG halted exports in April in a dispute over payments from Baghdad to companies working in the region. It restarted them in August, but warned it would cut shipments by mid-September if there was no progress on payments. For now about 120,000 barrels a day of KRG oil is being exported through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and the KRG's energy minister Ashti Hawrami says the region's oilfields could ship up to 200,000 bpd. The central government exports roughly 2.4 million bpd, with much of that coming from Iraq's southern oilfields. At around 3,000 bpd, the condensate flow from Kurdistan's Khor Mor field to Turkey is a mere trickle. But if it's sold on the world market from Mersin, this very valuable product could fetch over $100 a barrel, say oil market sources. Khor Mor - developed by the UAE's Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas, alongside Austria's OMV and Mol of Hungary - supplies gas for power stations in the Kurdistan region, produces liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and pumps out up to 17,000 bpd of condensates. Arbil is also routing some of the condensate volume to Khurmala, where it is exported through the central government's Iraq-Turkey pipeline system, industry sources say. Technicians at Khor Mor declined to comment on the final destination of the condensate because Kurdistan's Ministry of Natural Resources is in charge of the marketing effort. Kurdistan began its crude-for-products trade with Turkey in order to help plug a product shortfall it says was created by Baghdad. It receives only 15,000 bpd of fuel from southern Iraq, far below its 140,000 bpd allocation, according to the Kurdistan government. But Turkey's delivery has been slower than hoped, with the first products crossing the border at the end of last month, say industry sources. The process got bogged down in bureaucracy. Ankara has increasingly courted Iraqi Kurds as its relations with the Shi'ite-led central government in Baghdad have soured. Turkey is a major investment and trading partner for Iraq, especially for Kurdistan. With open support from Ankara, Kurdistan has plans to begin exporting its oil along a new 1 million bpd pipeline to the Turkish border by August 2013. Production from the region is expected to rise towards the 1 million mark by then. "The KRG needs the infrastructure - they can't have trucks bumper-to-bumper on the roads," says an oil industry source in Arbil.

Each Iraqi family is expected to get around $500 by the end of the year as part of a government plan to dole out surplus oil revenues, according to Iraqi parliament’s financial commission. Najeeba Najeeb, a commission’s member, said the sum which each Iraqi family will be entitled to get was not fixed and will rely on rate of oil exports and prices on international markets. Iraqi oil exports are currently at a level not seen in the past 30 years. Najeeb said at present prices and rates of 2.6 million barrels of exports a day the share of each family may exceed $500. But she warned that the grant may be reduced in case of disruption in exports or lower than expected prices. It is the first time in Iraq’s history Iraqis are promised a share of additional oil revenues. Najeeb said the Ministry of Planning has prepared a mechanism under which the monies will be distributed and it will soon be presented to the government and then passed to parliament for approval. If prices drop or exports fall for any reason, then only the vulnerable and low-income families will be entitled for the grant, she added.