Friday, February 14, 2020

WOTS FRI FEB 14th 2020

WOTS FRI FEB 14th 2020

Image result for happy valentine's day images



Markets:

all due to startup
dow  by 25   sp  5  ndx 30 

Precious MEtals:

Gold up a slightly 1576    Silver up a smidge  17.68  Copper down a little 259 Platinum  up 974.22


Favorite Currencies Forex Quotes

SymbolBidAskHighLowOpenChangeTime
 USD/IQD  1166.2000  1221.5000 1192.7000 1192.7000 1192.7000  0.9000 06:07
 USD/VND  22877.7100  23615.9400 23220.4500 23219.6600 23219.6600  2.1300 06:07
 USD/CNY  6.9861  6.9881 6.9874 6.9764 6.9764  0.0098 06:32
 USD/KWD  0.3045  0.3055 0.3050 0.3045 0.3046  0.0003 06:28
 GBP/USD  1.3031  1.3032 1.3063 1.3020 1.3041  -0.0010 06:39
 USD/IRR  0.0000  0.0000 42097.5000 42097.5000 42097.5000  97.5000 00:00
 USD/IDR  13716.0000  13719.0000 13729.0000 13677.0000 13682.0000  32.0000 06:38

Things in the News...  RE: CoronaVirus 
Other news...



Iraqi Articles:

Protesters from Nasiriyah, Basra, and Najaf sign a pledge to continue demonstrating





The World Bank informs Iraq that its financial situation is in danger, especially with regard to the salaries of state employees


The World Bank has informed Iraq that its financial situation is in danger, especially with regard to salaries of state employees.
The World Bank, in its latest report on Iraq late last year, indicated that “in the absence of clear structural reforms and the slow process of re-lending, the recovery of growth in Iraq may be short-lived. This situation seems especially present if we take into account the expectations of oil markets, as prices and exports are likely to decline given the decline in global demand and doubts related to the renewal of the OPEC agreement.
The report added, "The risks persist over the medium term. As the absence of economic diversification and the lack of budget flexibility associated with the wage bill in the public sector reduces financial surpluses in Iraq, as it increases the vulnerability of the economy to external shocks. These factors also threaten to further delay lending and undermine recent positive government efforts, especially in the electricity and agricultural sectors. Creating appropriate fiscal space for programs that promote growth will be a prerequisite for diversification and job creation, without which the large increase in oil production would mean little for most Iraqis.
The report pointed out that with the return of the displaced to their areas, there will be an increasing need to provide economic opportunities and maintain flexible social assistance in these parts of the country.
Fragility of the current socio-economic system
He stressed that “job shortages, corruption and poor service provision remain among the most important risks to growth and financial sustainability. Iraqi youth demonstrated in demonstrations in October 2019 to demonstrate these concerns and concerns. These demonstrations revealed the fragility of the current socio-economic system. It is expected that these social unrest will be dealt with through more short-term financial incentives - such as cash transfers, public sector employment, housing programs and others - in order to calm the anger of the protesters. However, the results may not be satisfactory because creating jobs, genuinely fighting corruption and structural reforms will require a longer time frame.

Leaked US documents: "Al-Maliki" stole Awakening funds to engage militias in the "Syrian conflict"

Leaked American documents revealed the role of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the ongoing conflicts in neighboring countries and the support of armed factions to participate in it, while the report noted that al-Maliki worked to finance the Iraqi armed factions to participate in the Syrian conflict, by deducting Awakening funds.
And Al-Ikhbaria followed, a report published by the Syrian "Step News Agency", on leaked documents from a report of an American investigation department on Iraqi sectarian militias, and the extent of the involvement of the former Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, in supporting the Syrian regime and its head, Bashar Al-Assad.
The report revealed leaks, stating that "at the present time he manages the money laundering files of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia: the media secretary of Nuri al-Maliki and the director of financial investments in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard" shown "and the view of the invited Dawa party, Yassin Majeed, He is assisted in this by Kati al-Rikabi, Abu Mujahid, who is a member of the Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi Parliament.
The report continued that Al-Maliki chose to stand with the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar Al-Assad, since 2012, and for this purpose established the Office of Foreign Services in cooperation with the Iraqi General Intelligence Branch 279, to hand over the task of supporting the Assad regime to each of the members of the Iraqi Parliament for the Construction Alliance, Aras Habib al-Fili , And Iraqi MP, Ahmed Al-Asadi.
The report, citing US intelligence sources, said that the money transferred to Syria since 2012 amounted to $ 460 million, in addition to recruiting more than 18,000 Shiites, including Iraqis, Pakistanis, Afghans, Houthis, and Bahrainis, who were mobilized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in cooperation with Akram Al-Kaabi and a deputy The head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Committee, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, who was assassinated by America with Qasim Soleimani in Baghdad earlier this year, and Cub Al-Zaidi and Sheikh Abdul Halim Al-Zuhairi. The Iranian regime and the ruling regime with Assad, to work to keep him in power under the pretext of heading to Syria to “protect the holy shrines” and save them with the dangers of jihadi organizations, while the hidden goal was the historic Sunni Arab revenge and the achievement of Iranian projects by dominating what is known as the “fertile crescent” , And penetration of the Sunni Arab depth in
Maliki sends snipers to the Heydrioun Brigade
While the second leak clarified the details of the snipers deal, which was sent by Secretary of Al-Maliki, Yassin Majeed, in cooperation with Lieutenant-General Farouq Al-Araji, to the fighters of the Iraqi Shiite "Haideriyoun" Brigade, which is fighting in Syria.
Where the report suggested that the snipers of the type "HS." 50 ”50 mm (12.7 * 99 mm) which is produced by the Austrian company" Steyr "at a price of $ 6500 per gun, to reach the militia a shipment of 800 rifles of the aforementioned model, and is distributed to militia elements in the areas of Al-Hujaira and Al-Sayyeda Zainab, south of Damascus.
In addition to the Austrian rifle, Yassin Majeed sent 2,000 modernized Iranian type rifles from the Austrian rifle of the same name, in line with the continued dispatch of light and medium weapons from the winter of 2012 to February 2014, bringing these shipments of weapons to around 600 One million US dollars.
The report pointed out that “supplying the Shiite militias with this type of guns, the Austrian version of them caused concern among the military and decision-makers in Britain and America, especially with fear of supplying the militias formed by Iran in Iraq, led by the League of the Righteous and the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades with this type of weapon And that could pose a great danger to the armies of the two countries there, in addition to the threats that these militias carry on the foreign armies in Syria as a result of their movement between the two countries.

Abu Al-Fadl steal 500 guns
The report continued that the militia “Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas” worked in the year 2013 to steal 500 M 107 guns of 50 mm from Iraqi warehouses, after facilities from Yassin Majid and Al-A’raji, to start this militia and the Shiite militias and the counterpart of the Syrian regime forces carrying this type. Of weapons in Syria, which is indicated by pictures of the elements of these militias.
The third axis of the leaks revealed the appointment of the director of the “Mubeen” section, Yassin Majeed, to Dr. Khalil Makhif Al-Rubaie, as an official in the Disarmament and Militia Integration Department in 2011, so that the department’s work is related to the file of what is known as the “Awakening” and militias, and the distribution of military ranks after the merger, Provided that the department is directly linked to the office of al-Maliki via, Yassin Majeed.
The leak indicated that the department abducted the salaries of 50 thousand members of the "Awakening" of the Iraqi Iraqi Sunnis by expelling them on trumped-up charges without stopping their salaries except on them, thus stealing them and transferring them from Khalil Al-Rubaie to Yassin Majeed, for a whole year, then the separated elements were replaced with another Among the non-Iraqi Shiites, in cooperation with Shibl al-Zaydi, Ahmad al-Asadi and Adnan al-Shahmani, noting that the total number of Sunni elements in “Awakening” is 101 thousand fighters.
The report pointed out that the Shiite militias, including Iraqis, Afghans and Pakistanis in Syria, were directly funded by the office of Nuri al-Maliki through the Office for Disarm and Integration of Militias, for these militias to displace Assad's opponents from the Damascus countryside and border cities with Iraq in the eastern region of Syria, and to resettle the Shiite fighters instead of them.
Abadi sees documents
The report also showed that the former Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, viewed in 2014 documents in the Iraqi Financial Supervision Department that reveal the existence of fake names that are paid under the owners of the elements of the Disarmament and Militia Integration Department, in addition to deducting Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis for $ 60 million. From the budgets of the governorates of Anbar, Nineveh and Salah al-Din, with a value of $ 20 million from each governorate, with the aim of building the “Imam Ali” base in the village of Al-Abbas in the vicinity of the Iranian-controlled city of Albukamal, east of Deir Ezzor, which led to a kind of tension in relations between Al-Abadi and the engineer in the middle of 2018.
The report also concluded by saying that the number of Iranian militia fighters supporting the Iranian “jurist state” reached in the eastern region of Syria about 36 thousand elements who were settled in the villages of the Al-Rawai tribes west of the Euphrates in Syria, near the Iraqi border, so these factions depend mainly on the funds they take Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, from the budget of the Iraqi popular crowd and turns it into Syria to secure Iran's strategic project by changing demographics in eastern Syria.

Deputy: 90% of the current representatives will not return to their seats in the upcoming elections 

On Friday, February 14, 2020, independent MP Bassem Khashan confirmed that 90% of the current members of Parliament will not .return to their seats in the upcoming elections
Khashan said that all political forces are worried about the early elections dossier and are aware of its repercussions, especially those that are . .implemented
He added, that there is an important reason in the inability to hold elections in addition to the election law is the file of the Federal Court, which is the .only body able to ratify the results and is now in the development of legal problems as explained by the Supreme Judicial Council Khashan pointed out that 90% of the current members of the House of Representatives will not return to their seats if any upcoming elections are held .according to a real law that meets the aspirations of the people because they are ineffective or influential
During its session, on December 24, 2019, the House of Representatives voted on the election law legislation, the most prominent of which stipulated the adoption of multiple constituencies within the governorate and the granting of seats to the winners with the highest votes on the basis of individual .nominations and not on the basis of lists


Close to Al-Sadr: We will besiege Parliament to support the granting of confidence to the Allawi government ... on condition not to quota

Close to the leader of the Sadrist movement and the alliance of Sadr, Muqtada al-Sadr, revealed on Friday, their intention to besiege and storm the parliament building with a session of granting confidence to the government of the Prime Minister-designate, in order to support it, provided it is without quotas.
Al-Muqarrab said, in a statement reported by an Arab newspaper, seen by Al-Akhbaria: “Al-Sadr has conveyed messages to the Prime Minister-designate and the political forces supporting him, that he will press through his audience on Parliament to force him to give confidence to Allawi, in exchange for Allawi’s not accepting any pressure A political imposed upon him. "
He added: "The Sadrist movement supporters may besiege the parliament building during the voting session on granting confidence to the Allawi government, amid a direct threat to storm the building if it does not give confidence, and other escalatory steps that Sadr is studying with those close to him, with the participation of active political forces, in addition to President of the Republic Barham Salih.
It is noteworthy that Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi, the designated president, has only 18 days left for him to present his ministerial cabinet to vote before Parliament, while some political parties have suggested in an interview with "Al-Akhbaria", that Allawi will present more than half of his cabinet during the next week, and he is now in the process of Final touches through discussions with some relevant parties.

Economist: The influential people hold the auction of the currency and the state cannot open this file


Economic expert, Saleh Al-Hamash, confirmed on Friday that influential people from the political class are holding the currency auction, noting that the state cannot open this file despite the corruption in it.
Al-Hamash said in a statement to, "Information," that " Iraq owns more than 70 banks, 90% of which are private and the rest are government, where most of the private banks operate the auction of currency sale."
He added that "most of the hawala companies and private banks are affiliated with influential political authorities in the authority, taking advantage of their presence in the position to obtain financial gains from the auction of selling the currency," noting that "this auction is not possible for the ordinary citizen to participate and enter because of his monopoly from the influential class in the country."

He explained that "the state is unable to open the files of the corruption of the auction of selling the currency, because the decision-makers and those close to them acquire this auction and have financial interests and banking transactions and control the capabilities of the country, which makes it difficult to open the file of corruption for the currency auction."

CBI, ISX,Dinar Guru:
 
CBI Update:
 
http://www.cbi.iq/

No report they are both closed on Friday


Dinar Guru Chatter:
 


2-14-2020   Intel Guru RayRen98   ...Sources are now indicating that PM Designate Allawi has completed the formation of his government. It is anticipated that Allawi will be "officially" accepted on Sunday and that he will request that Parliament hold an emergency session that same day to vote on his government selectees.  The Parliamentary Bloc of the Alliance of Saireon confirmed, on Thursday, that the House of Representatives during its second legislative term fulfilled all the demands of the demonstrators, indicating that many of the reform laws advocated by the demonstration arenas were accomplished within the House of Representatives.
2-13-2020   Newshound/Intel Guru Mnt Goat   ...the designate PM is desperately attempting to get his government formally completed and ratified by parliament. He wants to get it right this year.  Next he is going to try to ram-rod the 2020 budget with some changes to parliament and get is passed.  Why is this so important for the RV?  We know that the 2020 budget includes the reinstatement as there has been many scenarios played out by consultants hired the CBI to determine different “what if” scenarios for different rates.  So we wait and watch for 2 things now: 1) getting the new prime minister ratified and his govt formed and 2) getting this damned budget to parliament and hopefully passed in record time.   [post 2 of 2]

2-13-2020   Newshound/Intel Guru Mnt Goat   So what we know right now is the CBI wants to continue with the project to delete the zeros but had to put it on hold since the beginning of the protestors.  They told us they intended to complete it by year end. This verified once again that December and January are significant months for the CBI to complete this project.  Many keep asking me if the project will still work outside of this Dec – Jan timeframe. Yes it will but this is not the “optimum” time the CBI and the Finance Committee would like to do it...This week my CBI contact told me they had 2 important meetings and they were all about the project to delete the zeros. I am telling everyone that this project is VERY, VERY important for the 5 year plan of which was supposed to end in 2020. This project was (or still is) supposed to kick off the investment frenzy for Iraq by this time. So, we have now entered 2020 without it.  So what? It is only mid-February and still they have not yet paid anything out this year. This is good and we can see are intentionally holding off. But this can only last so long.  [post 1 of 2....stay tuned]

2-13-2020   Intel Guru MarkZ   [via PDK]  [I hear the dong may only rv at .3 to .4 cents:]   That would still be a good ROI but I do not believe that. I keep hearing that .47 is the street rate. And it will float higher… If it was to reinstate to where it was years ago before we devalued them…it would be in the $2.20s or $2.30s.

2-13-2020   Intel Guru Delta  ...the Currency Issue Expenses [Of the CBI].    They spent about 46 million dollars in just one month to print the currency...this is huge and gives you an indication they are printing and if my math is correct they have now printed 170 to 180 million dollars worth of currency in a matter of like a year and a half...

2-13-2020   Intel/Newshound Guru sandyf    ["If there is to be any return on this venture it will not be the result of anything done by Iraq."...Then by whom?...if not the CBI...] [reference Guru sandyf post 2-12-2020]  There is a basic accounting principle that dinarland prefers to ignore, the liabilities must be less than the assets or the entity is technically bankrupt.   Currency issued is a liability on the CBI and the CBI has no control over the value of it's assets, the bulk of the assets are foreign currency denominated and effectively fixed in value. There is limited equity in the accounts so no scope to increase the value of the dinar by any significant amount.   Any change to how the value of the assets could be calculated would have to be by international agreement and nothing to do with the CBI.

2-13-2020   Intel Guru MarkZ   [via PDK]   From my contacts in the US…they say we havn’t seen it yet because there is still a protocol in place saying Trump needs to be out of the country . He does happen to leave for Geneva tonight or tomorrow. I am hopeful we are going to see it. I am hearing Iraq has everything put together for an expected vote this weekend to move rv forward.  We know in their budget they are settling all past debts with Kuwait. We know this budget should have been approved in Jan and requires a much larger rate. We know they are in desperate need of this budget passing. And we know they are saying they will pass it in the next few days...we are clearly almost at the finish line.

2-13-2020   Newshound Guru Kaperoni   ...MCP  [MULTIPLE CURRENCY PRACTICES]  has nothing to do with dual currencies...has to do with pricing...has to do with price of goods.  MCP  is the variation or price of goods from one currency to another...has nothing to do with dual currencies in a country.  That will always exist in Iraq.

2-13-2020   Intel Guru Delta   ...there's something strange going on with the Central Bank auctions...they did show there were no wire transfers.  When you don't have any wire transfers that's really significant because we know the only way they can do that is if the IQD is going international...so the banks are able to do that electronically without them going to the CBI...they are testing something...

2-13-2020   Newshound/Intel Guru Mnt Goat   Article:  "L-KINDI NEWS: SALEH, AL-HALBUSI, AND AL-BARZANI ARE TOOLS TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW US PLANS IN IRAQ"   ...there is a US plan of Iraq and they are implementing it. This is how this entire protesting stuff started. It was the beginning of the end of the Iranian militias and politicians in Iraq. But it takes time and so be patient.













Catnip's Corner:

***************
ARTICLE 1-A (from PM Mahdi's website)

At the time this report was submitted, there are no new articles posted on PM Mahdi's website.

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ARTICLE 2 (from Government of Iraq twitter account)

At the time this report was submitted, there are no new tweets posted on the Government of Iraq twitter
account.

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ARTICLE 3

An informed source: The demonstration squares gathered their orders and agreed on a candidate to present him as a substitute for Allawi
2/13/2020 18:10 
{Baghdad_Eye} 

A well-informed source confirmed to Ayna News Agency that most of the demonstration arenas agreed to present a candidate for the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, to assign him a substitute for Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi.

The source, who refused to reveal his name, stated that the coordination of all governorates that have been witnessing protests for more than three months has taken place, including several meetings during the past two days, and all coordination has agreed to nominate Dr. Alaa Al-Rikabi as a substitute for Muhammad Allawi.

It is mentioned that Alaa Al-Rikabi is one of the most prominent figures in Dhi Qar Governorate who participated in the demonstrations since its inception, and the source said that the activists and coordination of the provinces met with Dr. Alaa Rikabi.

He was brought up with the idea, and was rejected by al-Rikabi several times, after which he agreed to provide his name.

Activists stated that the Prime Minister-designate of Prime Minister Muhammad Allawi does not comply with the conditions of the demonstrators and that they intend to order them to provide al-Rikabi as a substitute for him.
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ARTICLE 4

Accountability and justice reveals the mechanism for checking cabinet names

2/13/2020 15:42 
[Baghdad-where]

Today, Thursday, the Higher Authority for Accountability and Justice revealed the mechanism for checking the names of ministers.

The head of the Accountability and Justice Authority, Basem Al-Badri, said in a press statement, "The organization's work mechanism includes revealing and checking the names of ministers and other positions in the country through correspondence from the relevant official authorities."

He explained that "there is no difference in the audits between the top positions, whether the disclosures are made by the government or the parliament, especially since the two bodies are concerned in this regard."

He added that "the period during which the process of verifying names is different", pointing out that "the higher positions require procedures," the Bayraq al-Khair parliamentary bloc announced the completion of the prime minister-designate of his cabinet.

Earlier, Deputy Muhammad al-Khalidi confirmed the completion of the government cabinet for Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi, noting that "Allawi will be announced next week."

The head of the bloc, Muhammad Al-Khaldifi, said in a previous statement, "The ministerial cabinet of the prime minister-designate is ready, adding that" Allawi will inform the president and the resigned prime minister and ask the parliament to hold an emergency session for the purpose of voting on the ministerial cabinet. "

He explained, that there is pressure from some blocs, but they will not affect the passage of the ministerial cabinet within the House of Representatives. Urgent and fast, and may take place on the same day.

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ARTICLE 5

Darraji talks about assigning projects and signing contracts under [Zaal] Abdel-Mahdi

2/13/2020 16:12 •
[Baghdad-where]

Deputy Muhammad Sahib al-Darraji confirmed on Thursday that the resigned prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, did not attend the cabinet sessions since he was “upset.” He called on the Public Prosecution and Prosecution Authority to intervene, after Abdul-Mahdi issued a decision authorizing ministers and governors to refer projects and sign contracts.

Daraji said in a tweet on Twitter, today, Thursday, that "the rest of the cabinet has 10 days to be replaced, and its president is annoyed as he attends the sessions."

He added that Abdul-Mahdi "issued a decision to exclude the ministers and governors from the instructions and gives them the authority to refer projects directly without announcing or competing and signing contracts without waiting for the budget," explaining that "this is organized corruption and the Public Prosecution and Prosecution Authority will stop it."

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