Theseus

Can we lop off two low hanging 0's from Luigi? Pretty please or has he lost them already?

A quick look on the Iraq exchange does not show the currency on it. The article is pointing to the need to have it on the Iraq Stock Exchange. This is just talk at this point. All ideas start with talk to give them air.

Not sure if anyone has been to CBI and noticed in the upper right corner the Economic and Statistic data link. If you click on it then click on Monetary Sector>Currency>Currency Issued by CBI it will pull up a chart that many will find interesting here. Go ahead and explore a little.

If you spilled salt, all of the salt from a salt shaker, on the top of a table and then proceeded to remove that pile of salt one grain at a time, you would remove all of the salt on the table before Iraq moved.

Nah throw him to the gators in the moat that surrounds baghdad. There are no gators in Baghdad! Okay Baghdad Bob we hear ya!

Iraq's about to plunge off a fiscal cliff — and the consequences could be dire From Business Insider The plunge in oil prices is already having far-reaching effects on countries whose economies are dependent on oil exports. But in Iraq, the stakes of cheap oil are even higher than in Saudi Arabia, which is instituting unprecedented taxation and austerity, or in Nigeria, which isnow asking for an $11 billionWorld Bank loan. What little remains of Iraq's government and social order might collapse if oil remains in its current price trough — with dire consequences. According to a Monday AFP report, Iraq is now selling oil at half of the country's apparent fiscal break-even price. Right now, Iraq is selling its oil at around $22 a barrel, half of what it would need to fetch for the country to be able to fund the upcoming year of government budgetary obligations, the report said. United Nations Joint Analysis UnitIraqi government revenue by year, divided by oil and non-oil sources. But Iraq's situation is actually even worse. As recently as the 2014 fiscal year, Iraq was formulating its national budget on the assumption that oil would remain at around $90 a barrel and that the country's oil exports would continue to climb (which they have). Iraqi government revenue experienced dramatic annual increases between 2009 and 2013, almost entirely because of oil (see the chart on the left). That's all over, now that oil is expected to stay under $40 a barrel through the end of the year. Though Iraqi oil is comparatively cheap to extract, it also contains unusually high levels of sulfur, meaning that it typically sells for around 10% less than Brent crude, the global price benchmark. The Iraqi government is still making money pumping oil — just not nearly enough to fund the country's anticipated national budget. Such a daunting fiscal cliff would be challenging for a stable or politically coherent country. But it's potentially disastrous in a place like Iraq, where the majority of territory is split between the terrorist group ISIS and the Kurdistan Regional Government. Even the areas still under some semblance of federal control are fought over by a constellation of militia groups with ties to recognized political parties. Ali Khedery, the CEO of Dubai-based Dragoman Partners, a former adviser to US Central Command, and a former Exxon executive with extensive on-the-ground experience in Iraq, warned that cheap oil threatens the country's last remaining semblance of order. "You are looking at a significant possibility of state collapse due to civil unrest," he told Business Insider. RNGS ReutersTerritorial control of Iraq as of January 22nd, 2016. ISF refers to the Iraqi Security Forces, the state's official uniform military. Cheap oil will eat into the Iraqi state's ability to continue fighting ISIS, which still controls Mosul, the country's second-largest city. And it could have an alarming effect on the patronage, corruption, and militancy that buoys the already dysfunctional Iraqi state. As Khedery explained to Business Insider, the number of Iraqi government employees is believed to have shot up from around 850,000 at the time of the US-led invasion in 2003 to more than 2.5 million by early 2015. It's a revealing statistic, considering Iraq's transition from a strong, centralized state under Saddam Hussein to a loose and often-violent federation under its current system. Khedery said that people were added to government rolls because of family, sectarian, or tribal connections. Some officials would pocket money through "ghost job" scams, embezzling salaries from employees that didn't actually exist. Some of the government's oil revenues would go towards militias with ties to official Iraqi political parties — organizations like the powerful Badr Group. "Why did the number of government employees go up 200%? The reason is that Iraq is a kleptocracy built on systemic corruption and patronage as a means of buying votes," Khedery told Business Insider. As a result, Iraq has little ability to hedge against against a plunge in oil prices. "Unlike Russia or Saudi, which have hundreds of billions in hard currency reserves and trillions in assets and state owned entities, Iraq is insolvent and bankrupt," he said. In a price crunch, Saudi Arabia has the option of selling off chunks of Saudi Aramco, itsperhaps multi-trillion-dollar state oil concern — which is exactly what Riyadh is reportedly planning on doing. Russia is a major gas exporter, and has a more-diversified economy than many other rentier states. Iraq, on the other hand, has little to show for the nearly half-trillion dollars in oil-export revenue the country received just in the decade after the 2003 invasion. It's largely been stolen, or dispensed to militia groups. The Brookings InstitutionIraq's oil export revenues in the decade after the 2003 US-led invasion of the country. As Khedery explained, an Iraqi "hard landing" has some alarming ramifications. A plunge in federal revenue would only harden the division between Baghdad-administered Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which already has is own oil ministry, government, and security apparatus, and which sells more than 600,000 barrels of oil a day independently of Baghdad. In addition to hastening the country's breakup, a budget plunge would also badly destabilize Basra, the southern export point for the vast majority of Iraq's oil. The city has already seen increases in violence between Shi'ite militia groups that the federal government has been unable to disarm. Once organizations like Khataib Hezbollah, Jaysh al-Mahdi, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq see their bottom line threatened, the city on which much of the Iraqi economy is dependent could begin to erupt. "The militias are going to start turning on the state, and they're going to start turning on each other," Khedery told Business Insider. "They're basically vultures who feasted on ethno-sectarian hatreds and high oil prices and patronage. And now they're going to have to start fighting each other for the scraps as the oil-funded pie has shrunk by more than 80%."

The US Post office is still delivering mail from WWII. So there could be things that take longer to get done than this.

The National Oil Company is part of the HCL. However, this is an agreement to do so. No writing on the wall at this juncture as it is not a done deal. When it is implemented, then it will be done deal. Not when they say that it is law. Legislation must be implemented or they are nothing more than pieces of paper collecting dust. Analyze, plan design and implement.

30% is a price point. Jiggle the price point until a trickle starts coming in and then jiggle it a lit more until a steady flow comes through. That is how capitalism works in its simplest form when the price point is too high. RV'ing at this juncture would not solve the issue in anyway because if you have x and the tariff is 30%, when you change x to y the tariff is still 30%. The solution is to change the tariff percentage while still x to give relief but still charging a tariff. The solution is not all or nothing. Change the tariff to an acceptable level, greater than zero but less than 30%, and you should start to see imports flowing again and strengthening the dinar. Change the dinar and leave the tariff as is will only lessen the dinar not increase it at this juncture. Then when x does change to y, the increase in y will lead to an increase in the tariff revenue. Although it might need to be adjusted downward a tad if the imports slow. Again jiggle the price point until the stream is steady and constant. Repeat and rinse.

Breaking story: Time framed but argues it wasn't running away because it was frozen in time.

Time was framed! It got nabbed for always running away!

You do know that if we physically did that, a Kardashian might blow a cheek or two!

Here's posting to be on the next list!

Lot more than not just seeing the back side of the 100s. Look closely see if you can tell what is missing? One of these things are not like the other. Can you tell what they are?

How many plane loads of IQD did Trump have again? And what kind of planes were those again? Yeah Trump swears the oath to be president and the first thing he does is get in line to exchange the dinar at WF where the wealth manager at the local branch in DC is all googly-eyes at Trump! And by the way, that would mean the RV happens in the first quarter of 2017! LOL No wonder why Trump wants to be Prez so he can make the RV happen! I say peg the dinar to a Kardashian's behind. So it grows the Dinar grows.

TQueezy, its funny you posted this. I like to say, based on the views I read here, "Oh Look! A grain of sand moved in Iraq, its time to RV!" This is exactly what you are referring to on these forums. Every little thing that seems to be related in one way to foreign exchange rates or laws passed in Iraq, people jump up and down and exclaim its time RV! (Not everyone on here does that.) There is a reason why people also say do not invest in any more than you can afford to lose. Most in here would go to a casino in Vegas or Atlanta and say, I am going to take this 20 bucks and grow it into a Million. Then they start listing all of the things, either in their mind or on some sort of medium, they are going to buy with that money they so easily won. When they lose that 20 bucks they come out of Vegas and will exclaim, Vegas sucks! or they had a bad dealer. Whatever excuse they could justify losing the money. However if they said, with this 20 bucks I am going to have fun until its all gone and they lose it all, they have a lot more fun and are likely to return. The point here is invest your money but not your emotions. I know that is a hard thing to do, trust me. You ride the roller coaster of ups and downs long enough and you will never want to do it again. I am sure most that do that on here will probably go on to either spend all of their money in a relatively short time or never put another dime in an investment like this one again unless of course its their 401 retirement fund. So sit back watch the people jump up and down, push em out of the way if you have to but most of all, patience is a virtue. Hope that helps. For the record, once again, the HCA is not and never will be the HCL. There are nine oil producing regions in Iraq, the Kurds are one of the nine. The HCL must also be passed in its own separate legislation. It will then be financially accounted for in the budget but the HCL legislation will never be put into the budget. This is one of the biggest misnomers around here that the HCA will magically translate into the HCL. There are too many other things that Iraq has to account for that the HCA does not address, like each and every citizen gets paid based on the sales of the oil as a nation not from one region. This is why the HCA will never be the HCL and vice versa. Every citizen getting paid is just but a small part of that larger picture called the HCL. Again there is a lot more to it than every citizen getting paid. So instead of getting down because this year was just not the year, sit back and have some fun with the people that hoot and holla it is going to RV because a grain of sand moved in Iraq. I have a blast on here and I am usually laughing almost every time i come on here.

This could be a response to the outsourcing that is being done through the H1-B Visa program. Lot of tech companies in the Atlanta, GA area. A lot of foreigners have also descended on that town looking for high-tech jobs. Since the H1-B Visa program is only a short term program then it is only natural to assume that they are sending money back to their country whether that be to families or god knows what. I used to do contract work for a major top 5 global company and the multi-billion dollar international tech company based in Banglore India would try to get an individual hired through the H1-B Visa program. Every three years, or shorter, they rotated individuals in and out of that position so the position was never unfilled. Because that Atlanta has a large number of tech companies this could be a result of WF wanting to capture some of this action and nothing to do with the dinars. Not everything has to do with the IQD and then again I could be wrong. WF acquired a southern bank, can't remember the name, that had territory in NC, SC and GA. It would be interesting if this was occurring in other high tech hot spots as well.

I don't disagree with that Yota. However to have an unrealistic expectation of whenever a grain of sand is moved in Iraq an RV will occur is ludicrous and its the view some take on here. Like the HCA being the HCL or the HCA will be transformed into the HCL. The Letter of Intent outlines the program monitoring as stated in the 2106 budget. However, even after the actual HCL is passed and implemented there will not be a RV until these goals stated in this letter are reached. Given that and the history, a realistic expectation would put any semblance of an RV out two years from now. Not in Feb or May like some here think.

"Given that the timeline for the first review is to be completed by the end of May 2016 and no timeline for the second review," Let me correct this. The reviews are to be given quarterly. The first quarterly review will be based on the first quarter of 2017 which ends in March 2017. The end of May 2016 is speaking to the second quarterly review deadline. The reviews should take 1 to 2 months to complete. By April or May we should see the results of the first quarterly review and by August or September we should see the results of the 2nd quarterly review. There are charts in the Intent Letter as an addendum which were not posted.

The rate of 1,180 is only used for monitoring purposes. Iraq currently has it set to 1,182 ID per US dollar. The IMF chose this rate, 1,180, which was set in November 2016 as the baseline in which every thing will be calculated against. Iraq can change the rate up or down but for the acceptance to Article VIII, the IMF will be using the figure of 1,180 ID. Think of it like in 1905 a nickel was 5 cents and now that same nickel is worth 20 dollars, hypothetically. The baseline was the 1905 nickel and when compared to today's value that nickel is worth 20 dollars. It's the same thing they are doing here and it is common when dealing with financial calculations to set a baseline number to which all things are compared to going forward. Iraq is free to move the rate up or down, but for the purposes of monitoring and comparison for Article VIII the exchange rate is set to 1,180 ID by the IMF.

What's important about this article is 1) its a move towards acceptance of Article VIII and 2) due to the program's monitoring timeline gives a rough time frame when article VIII will be accepted. Also the letter stresses non-oil revenue as a way to article VIII, not oil. Given that the timeline for the first review is to be completed by the end of May 2016 and no timeline for the second review, I would estimate this to be almost a two-year process culminating around October 2017 for final acceptance of article VIII for Iraq.I know this is not what people want to hear, but this is about Iraq finally moving into article VIII in which they can do the RV. This letter shows the path to the goal line and now we just have to wait and watch them finish this thing up. Soon is not as soon as people would like (as most would have liked this to be done "yesterday") and not as far away as some had feared. Iraq is closer to getting this done now than they were with Maliki (may he be damned for all eternity). Let Iraq follow through and complete the implemented guidelines and in the end it won't matter how long it took to get here because it will have finally arrived and we will all be happy campers. Chuck, there are at minimum of two reviews. The first is to be completed by the end of May 2016. So there will be no change at the end of Feb 2016 nor will there be one at the end of May 2016. A more realistic expectation would be after 3rd Quarter of 2017. However, that runs into hashing out the budget for that next year so it may not happen even at that time. Also should an additional review or reviews be had this could be longer in duration. This is more of a realistic timeline than placing hope upon hope and having it dashed time and time again.

Couple of things to add: Foreign exchange: The government will gradually remove remaining exchange restrictions and multiple currency practice (MCP) with a view to eliminating exchange rate distortions. Such a move towards acceptance of the obligations under Article VIII of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement will send a positive signal to the investment community that Iraq is committed to maintain an Definitions An exchange rate set at ID 1,180 per U.S. dollar will be used for monitoring purposes. This exchange rate will be used to convert into Iraqi dinars the U.S. dollar value of all CBI foreign assets and liabilities denominated in U.S. dollars, as required. For CBI assets and liabilities denominated in SDRs and in foreign currencies other than the U.S. dollar, they will be converted in U.S. dollars at their respective SDR-exchange rates prevailing as of November 10, 2015, as published on the IMF’s website. The same rules will be used to convert external debt related parameters. Central government is defined to include the central administration & the Kurdish regional government ------ So as you can see once this has been done, the move to article 8 will be accomplished and then and only then can Iraq RV. It would be a fool's gambit to do so otherwise.

For those who do not wish to read the entire letter, here is a rough cliff-note version and why an RV won't happen until at least the 3rd quarter of 2017 or later: Program Monitoring · The program will have quarterly reviews and set quarterly quantitative targets … The first review should be completed by end-May 2016. Foreign Exchange: · The government will maintain the peg with the U.S. dollar. · As a first step, the government will, by end-February 2016: · Amend the Investment Law, or issue clarifying implementing regulations, to remove the limitation on transfer of investment proceeds that gives rise to an exchange restriction, · Draft and adopt a by-law to set up a mechanism to comply with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions related to terrorism financing and Recommendation 6 of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). Fiscal Policy · The government commits to implement a large fiscal consolidation to bring spending into line with available resources in 2015 and 2016. · This will require: o (i) a sizable reduction in the non-oil primary balance over 2013-16 o (ii) a large increase in mostly domestic but also external financing over the short run that will remain compatible with debt sustainability in the medium run · contain the non-oil primary deficit to no more than ID 69 trillion · Achieved through: o collect at least ID 6.5 trillion (4.9 percent of non-oil GDP) in non-oil revenue o contain non-oil primary expenditure to ID 75 trillion (57 percent of non-oil GDP) · The domestic financing will be covered by the issuance of Treasury bills, out of which up to ID 15 trillion will be refinanced by commercial banks at the discount window of the CBI. The external financing will be covered by the loan from the IMF under the RFI ($1.2 billion, ¶13), a Development Policy Loan by the World Bank ($1.2 billion) to be disbursed in December 2015, and project loans by the World Bank ($35 million), the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA, $307 million), and Italy ($40 million). · Kuwait has agreed to the postponement of the payment of the balance of war reparations ($4.6 billion, or 4 percent of non-oil GDP) by the Iraqi government to 2017. Fiscal Programs in 2016 · the government decided to reduce its foreign financing forecast and introduced amendments to the 2016 draft budget to parliament on December 2, 2015 that target a slightly lower non-oil primary fiscal deficit of up to ID 77 trillion (56 percent of non-oil GDP · achieved through the implementation of the following measures: · collect at least ID 8.8 trillion (6.5 percent of non-oil GDP) in non-oil revenue, out of which ID 1 trillion from an increase in wage taxation · contain non-oil primary expenditure to ID 86 trillion (63 percent of non-oil GDP) · The domestic financing will be covered by the issuance of Treasury bills, out of which up to ID 7 trillion will be refinanced by commercial banks IRAQ 8 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND at the discount window of the CBI, the issuance of national bonds for the general public in an amount of ID 5 trillion, and the drawdown of government deposits in the banking sector in an amount of ID 4 trillion. · The external financing will be covered by the planned issuance of Eurobonds ($2 billion), a loan from the Islamic Development Bank ($500 million) and project loans by the World Bank ($50 million), JICA ($502 million), and Italy ($40 million). · The government will not resort to the accumulation of arrears to finance the deficit. · In order to strengthen fiscal discipline, the government will implement the following measures · The Minister of Finance will approve a new draft of the Financial Management law in line with World Bank and IMF comments on the last draft submitted to the Shura Council (structural benchmark for 2nd review) · Survey, audit and pay domestic arrears. · Take steps to move to a Treasury Single Account (TSA) · Design and implement, with the IMF technical assistance, a commitment control system for budget execution · Design and implement an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) · Implement Public Investment Management (PIM) reform with the assistance of the World Bank. · Implement the existing asset declaration procedures for high-level officials Banking Supervision · by end-February 2016, appoint international auditors to audit the latest financial statements of Rasheed Bank and Rafidain Bank according to international standards (structural benchmark, Table 2), in cooperation with the Executive Committee for the restructuring of these banks and the World Bank. · The CBI will continue to implement reform measures to enhance the stability of the banking sector in Iraq which includes inter alia: · Introducing the international bank account number (IBAN) system in Iraq; · Increasing the capital requirement of banks to ID 250 billion (all but one has done) · Contracting a consultant to assist the CBI in rating bank · Preparing a Deposit Insurance Scheme which stipulates the establishment of a corporation to be licensed by the CBI · Contracting a private firm to provide the CBI with a credit registry system · Issuing a banking law for financial institutions offering Islamic services · Penalizing financially and administratively banks and non-banks financial institutions for any non-compliance with laws and regulations in force.

If you are going to quote the verse please do so in it's entirety. Your quote about if the they pay the jizya is wrong because Islam only accepts the Mushrikun if they repent and perform As-Salat and give Zakat. What does this mean? Only when a non-believer converts to Islam can they be accepted. There is no acceptance of jews and christians as jews and christians. Why? Because Islam is in a constant state of war as long as there is one non-believer in their land. They define their land as the entire earth btw. Also why do I say that they must convert? As-Salat is basically saying the shahada to convert from non-belief to Islam. Only a muslim can give zakat. So the verse reads (9:5): "Then when the sacred months (1st, 7th, 11th and 12th months of the Islamic calendar) have passed, then kill the Mushrikun (see v. 2:105 for who these are according to the quarn) wherever you find them, capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush. But if they repent and perform As-Salat (Iqdmat-as-Salat), and give Zakat, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." So yeah Islam accepts Jews and Christians, its just a matter of HOW they get accepted. One thing you have to learn with muslims is they will play word tricks on you in order for you to see that they are not who they really are (a form of taqiyya). I once knew an Egyptian Copt who explained how Christians in Egypt paid the jiziya. They were lined up and each had to proceed to pay. As they paid they were slapped on the back or the neck or the coins were tossed from their hands and they were summarily killed. For those who don't know slapping a person on the pack of the neck is a form of humility in that culture. Where does it say that non-believers must pay with humility? Most people think that like the bible, it is the final say. Shariah law does not stem just from the Quran it also stems from the Traditions (Hadiths) of which only a few select translators, if you will, are and were allowed to translate their god's words so that we may understand the meaning behind the context in which the verse in the Quran was revealed to their so-called prophet and messenger. (When you say the shahda you say mohammed is a prophet and messenger.) So we must look to the main man of this religion to which all has been divined, mohammed, as to how he accepted payment of the Jiziya or told his followers how to accept payment of the Jiziya. The Hadiths say that mohammed says the non-believer must pay with humility. So here we have how jews and christians will actually have to pay the jiziya to the muslim for protection. If the non-believer chooses not to pay or the non-believer chooses not to convert then by Islamic law the non-believer must die, as given in verse 9:5. We must also remember there are peaceful verses in the quran. These verses were revealed to their prophet in the very early stages of Islam. The quran's chapter's are not in chronological order so it can be a bit confusing on this aspect. It wasn't revealed to their prophet that their god changes his mind when their prophet revealed the verse of abrogation because he lusted after his nephew's wife and wanted a way to marry her and have his nephew divorce her. So their prophet revealed the abrogation verse that is read like an old verse can be become obsolete if a new and better verse is revealed. If you were to follow the chronological order of the revelations in which the friendly verses were revealed you will start to see them become violent towards the people of the book and the christians and non-believers (al-Mushrikun). Basically the earlier friendly verses were abrogated when newer verses came about. And yes I know the context in which 9:5 was revealed. So don't be fooled when they say well Islam accepts Jews and Christians because there is a catch of how they accept jews and christians and the ultimate alternative is that they accept your death. As far as the number of muslims in the world: first, the largest indigeneous muslim population is Indonesia. Second, Islam tends to inflate their numbers because they go by numbers to recruit. When I last looked at a survey to show how many christians versus how many muslims there were in the United States, the survey broke apart the Christians into denominations. The muslims were not broken up by their sects. This survey actually made many headlines in the USA to show the conversion rate of muslims was occurring at a faster rate than christians. However when the christians denominations had been tallied together the claim fell to 3rd fastest rate of all religions in the USA. They use these type of tactics to prove why one should convert. Male muslims target christian women so that the women can have many children by that male. They prey on the weaknesses of the women using the culture of the west to do this. A woman who usually finds solace in Islam usually has deep psychological issues such as low self-esteem or "daddy-issues". The muslim predators pick up on this and go in for the kill. Raping of women in Islam is perfectly acceptable as the spoils of war. When Islam has conquered a land. What has transpired over NYE was something different as it was coordinated and planned. Dinarian, ISIS kills all shia soldiers they can because ISIS is Sunni. The rift between Sunni and Shiite muslims goes all the way back to after the death of their prophet when their prophet didn't name a successor. And like Ghengis Khan's death, it caused derision and division between the two sects. So much so that Fatwah's have been proclaimed to say a shiite muslim is not a muslim at all. So the ISIS is merely perpetrating this "hatfield and mccoy" feud by killing shiite muslims when they can. The Kurds are Sunni by the way. Never trust a muslim and its even worse to trust a apologetic muslim supporter.

Based on the latest document to come from IMF, I would not expect an RV to happen in 2016 at all. The Letter of Intent shows at least two quarterly reviews pushing the date to at least October 2016 and Iraq won't RV while formulating and hashing out the next budget. Given this year and the previous year's budget experience, the first quarter of 2017 is out as well. The possibility would be 3rd quarter of 2017 or later based on everything in the Letter of Intent and the budget experience. I would actually start looking after the 3rd quarter in 2017. Happy New Year!