Iraqi News Articles for My FX Buddies Podcast covering News for APR 29 thru May 1-21
These are the articles but I apologize they are not exactly in order I mention an interview with an outline I will put that that bottom.
Ask the Fool: Direct and to the points
Economist: The surplus in oil prices is sufficient to prepare a new budget
The economic expert, Ihssan Al-Kinani, confirmed that the government can prepare a budget sufficient for more than three months, after the price of oil rose to more than $ 60 a barrel, pointing out that Iraq is getting large returns after the rise in oil prices, sufficient to cover most of its debts that it borrowed recently.
Al-Kinani said in a statement to / the information /, that "oil prices and for nearly 3 months are still above the level of $ 60 a barrel, at a time when the government set the price of oil in the budget at less than $ 45 a barrel."
He added that "the surplus oil habits, the government can exploit it optimally to prepare a supplementary budget, especially since the revenues may be sufficient as a budget for more than 3 months."
Al-Kinani explained, "The government's continuation of its current approach and the failure to complete important projects such as electricity and services for new residential areas, Iraq will enter into a vortex, especially since there are debts owed by the country that may suffer from future governments.
Follow-up of funds and real estate abroad .. Iraq recovers 24 million dollars from Germany
On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Iraq is making great efforts to restore its regional and global role, and while it renewed Baghdad's support for dialogue tracks in the region, it indicated its continued follow-up to the file of Iraqi funds and real estate abroad.
"Iraq is making great efforts to coordinate with all its friends around the world to reserve international positions, and this is important because it will re-position Iraq within the various organizations," ministry spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahhaf said in a statement to the official agency, followed by "People." "It will also restore the opportunity for Iraq to make decisions in more than one important circle related to human rights, the United Nations and human rights organizations."
Iraqi Politics
He added that "the Iraqi foreign policy pursues a vision of focusing balance and stability, and it relies on peace and abides by all international agreements, as the balanced role of Iraq with all parties at the regional and global levels representing an opportunity to take control." of matters and initiatives that would restore Iraq to coordinate regional interactions at the level of Region and international interactions. "
International support for Iraq
He stressed that "Iraq had international and regional support in its war against ISIS terrorist gangs, and today it is in the role of the diplomatic movement, initiator and actor, which establishes balance and stability at the regional level."
Seeking stability in the region
He pointed out that "the Iraqi foreign policy is working to support the paths of dialogue between the parties at the regional level, believing that these interactions will lead to the consolidation of stability at the regional level, and all of this will be reflected in Iraq . "
He explained that “the concept of security is organic and cannot be divided,” indicating that “sustaining coordination with all parties and relying on dialogue mechanisms and agreeing on the rules of common interest is the means to defuse crises, reduce escalation and depend on the new phase that calls for empowerment and integration for the development of the peoples of the region. ”
Activating the joint committees
He pointed out that "the ministry is now at the bilateral level, working very hard to activate the work of the joint Iraqi committees with all the partners of Iraq," noting that "the daily meetings in the specialized departments in the ministry to push for the work of the joint committees.
He continued: "This will be through following up the memoranda concluded between Iraq and its friends, as well as following up the outcomes of the meetings and building on a speech that secures political, security, economic and development paths in which there are multiple fields , which confirms the role of Iraq with its partners and re-follows up seriously in order to achieve more realistic programs. "
He pointed out that "Iraqi diplomacy is opening up to the Iraqi street and is responsible for responding to it."
On Iraqi funds abroad, Al-Sahhaf said that "there is a movement to recover Iraqi funds abroad, and the ministry has recovered 24 million dollars from Germany. We also hope that we will reach clear results with the file of Iraqi real estate abroad and" to ensure their security and security, as well as confirm their ownership of Iraq. "
He pointed out that "Iraqi companies by the ministry are working with Iraqi embassies in all countries of the world to follow up the file of Iraqi funds abroad.
This is that Qatari investment fund I discussed and it looks like they hold Indonesian Rupiah
this is just a snippet but I'll put the link to it if you want to see the entire report
- Marginal year-on-year revenue decline of 1% to QAR 7.2 billion in Q1 2021 due to a negative FX impact. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic excluding FX impact, revenue increased by 1%, mainly driven by growth in our home market Qatar and in Indonesia.
- EBITDA increased by 6% year-on-year to QAR 3.2 billion in Q1 2021, as the company maintains its focus on digitalization and cost optimisation. EBITDA margin increased to 45% in Q1 2021 from 41% in Q1 2020, supported by EBITDA margin expansion in Indonesia, Kuwait, Iraq and Myanmar. Excluding FX impact EBITDA increased by 9%.
An American strategic expert: Washington’s focus on "Iraqi independence" is more important than the withdrawal from Afghanistan
The American strategic expert, Anthony Cordesman, said that Washington's focus on forming and developing relations with Iraq "as an independent and safe country from Iranian influence" is much more important "" than withdrawing from Afghanistan and reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iranian nuclear agreement, as he put it.
Cordesman, who chairs the Arle Burke Chair in Strategic Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated in a lengthy report published by the Center that it is important, such as dealings with Iran and other issues related to stability and instability in the Middle East and North Africa, to maintain relations with Iraq, and support it to become a state It is stable, and represents an element of balance for Iran, and reducing its deep internal tensions and the permanent threat of extremism may represent the most important direct strategic challenges for America in the region.
Cordesman added that the United States has many strategic goals in the Middle East and North Africa, but establishing successful strategic relations with Iraq is now one of America's most important priorities. Geography, demographics, regional politics, and oil are matters that make Iraq a major cornerstone in any efforts to meet these challenges.
Cordesman, who worked as a consultant for Afghanistan affairs in the US Defense and State Ministries, explained that “the geography of Iraq, its large oil resources, its large population, its strategic influence, and its alignment with external powers are pillars that make working for Iraq to be a stable and secure country, essential to reducing The growing regional influence of Russia and Iran; ensuring that Syria remains at least partially isolated; establishing a more effective regional strategic structure that includes Egypt, Jordan, and other Gulf Arab countries; ensuring stable development of Iraq's oil and exports, and achieving gains for the Iraqi people, not for Iran. "
Cordesman pointed out that, "However, the United States has not yet understood these facts even though it has fought the equivalent of four wars in Iraq since 1990. The first war was the war of liberation of Kuwait in the period 1991-1990, and the second war was the invasion that the United States led to topple Saddam. Hussein in 2003. As for the third war, it was against Sunni extremism from 2004 to 2012, and the fourth war was in the use of US forces to help Iraq eliminate the "caliphate" of the Islamic State (ISIS), from 2014 to 2018. "
"The responsibility for much of the country’s problems should be blamed on selfish political leaders, rival factions, and sectarian and ethnic divisions in Iraq, and many of Iraq's leaders pushed the United States to leave in 2011 as many are pushing it now," Cordesman said. Iraqi forces after 2003, and the Trump administration left, leaving the Biden administration with no more than a hollow structure represented by the United States' efforts in the field of training and military assistance only. "
Cordesman said, "This is no excuse for repeating the same mistakes that the United States committed in 2003 and 2011. No amount of American political" circumvention "can conceal the fact that the current Iraqi military and security forces have not yet been able to secure the country against the revival of extremist movements. And ethnic and sectarian divisions, and interference from outside powers. "
Cordesman concluded his report by saying, "It is not yet clear that the Biden administration has in fact dealt with the weakness of the Iraqi security forces, the emergence of a new Iranian threat, or to what extent Iraq's failure in civilian governance and development makes it vulnerable again to extremist threats or conflict." "It does not appear that the US strategic dialogue with the leaders of Iraq on April 6 and 7 in Baghdad has produced any positive results."
The World Gold Council offers a complete failure to Iraq if it wishes to increase its share of the precious metal
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mustafa Ghaleb Makhaif, held a meeting on Thursday with the World Gold Council (upon their request).
The media office of the bank said in a statement received by Shafaq News that the meeting dealt with a number of issues, the most prominent of which were technical support and training files, in addition to discussing the increase in the foreign reserves of the Central Bank, which was achieved after the implementation of recent reforms in the work of this bank and the banking sector.
The statement noted that the World Gold Council had provided full support to the Central Bank in case it wished to increase the gold quota for Iraq.
It is noteworthy that the Central Bank of Iraq ranks fifth in the Arab world and 38 globally in terms of the size of gold reserves.
here's another version
The World Gold Council announces its support to increase the share of Iraq
The World Gold Council announced, on Thursday, its support for increasing Iraq's share of gold.
A statement of the Central Bank of Iraq, of which Mawazine News received a copy, stated that “The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mustafa Ghaleb, frightened, held a meeting with the World Gold Council (upon their request). The meeting dealt with a number of issues, most notably the technical support and training files."
The statement added, "The meeting discussed the increase in the foreign reserves of the Central Bank, which was achieved after implementing the recent reforms in the work of this bank and the banking sector," adding: "The World Gold Council has provided full support to the Central Bank in case it wishes to increase the gold quota for Iraq."
It is noteworthy that the Central Bank of Iraq is ranked fifth in the Arab world and 38 in the world in terms of the size of gold reserves.
Deputy: The return of the dollar exchange rate to what it was in the past
The Secretary-General of the Islamic Union for Iraqi Turkmen , Jasim Muhammad al-Bayati, on Thursday ruled out the return of the dollar’s exchange rate and its return to what it was previously.
Al-Bayati said in a statement to the agency / Al-Maaloumah /, “The issue of the return of the dollar’s exchange rate to what it used to be has become a thing of the past, and there are no indications regarding it.”
He pointed out, "The current time does not allow it to return to what it was due to the existing health conditions, but there is a rumor and some say that the exchange rate of the dollar will return to its previous price before the elections."
It is noteworthy that , on December 20, Iraq decided to reduce the value of the dinar against the dollar to 1450 instead of 1184, to contain the financial crisis, but the decision caused stagnation in economic movement and an increase in commodity prices in the local markets.
Trader says Iran not worried about billions of dollars held in Iraq
Between 6 billion to 7 billion dollars of Iranian funds are held in Iraq, but Tehran is not worried about their release, the head of the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce says.
Neighboring Iraq owes the money to Iran for importing gas and electricity, which has continued despite illegal US sanctions, but Tehran has been unable to obtain its assets frozen in Iraqi banks under US pressure.
“The volume of the blocked Iranian money and assets in Iraq is changing daily, where every day we see some parts of them released and the overall figure increase on the other hand because of the export of goods” by Iran, Yahya Al-e Eshaq said in remarks published Wednesday.
“Currently, the volume of the blocked assets in Iraq is between 6 and 7 billion dollars, but we do not have much worries about their release,” he added.
Iraqi banks have “a useful and acceptable cooperation with the Central Bank of Iran”, Al-e Eshaq explained, adding this cooperation has helped the Islamic Republic circumvent the sanctions and carry out transactions with Iraq.
Iraq has paid some of its debts over the years, but US sanctions and economic troubles in the country have made the transfer of money much slower than Iran expected.
Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said in October that Baghdad had agreed to release frozen funds for the purchase of basic commodities.
Al-e Eshaq said Iran partly gets paid in cash, but it mostly receives goods from Iraq to cover the debt.
Iraq imports a wide range of goods from Iran, including food, agricultural products, home appliances, air conditioners and car parts.
It also relies on Iran for natural gas that generates as much as 45 percent of its electricity. Iran transmits another 1,200 megawatts directly, making itself an indispensable energy source for its Arab neighbor.
The US is unhappy with close relationship and trade between Baghdad and Tehran, but it has had to repeatedly extend by 45, 90 or 120 days a sanctions exemption to allow Baghdad to import Iranian energy.
In March, the US government granted a 120-day waiver to allow Iraq to pay for electricity imports from Iran, Louisa Loveluck, the Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post, wrote on her Twitter page.
Iraq needs more than 23,000 megawatts of electricity to meet its domestic demand but years of war following the 2003 US invasion have left its power infrastructure in tatters and a deficit of some 7,000 megawatts.
In the past, officials in Baghdad have said there is no easy substitute to imports from Iran because it will take years to adequately build up Iraq’s energy infrastructure.
They have said American demand acknowledges neither Iraq’s energy needs nor the complex relations between Baghdad and Tehran.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, on whom the Americans had counted to pry Iraq away from Iran’s embrace, has said that he wanted “excellent relations” with the Islamic Republic.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tuesday he had held “excellent talks” with Iraqi leaders after paying a two-day visit to the country.
The two countries have called to raise their annual bilateral trade to $20 billion from around $10 billion despite the impact of the US sanctions.
Witch hunt, 'highway robbery'
Tens of billions of dollars of Iranian assets, mainly from exports of oil and gas, are frozen in foreign banks due to US sanctions on Iran's banking and energy sectors.
South Korea holds $7 billion in Iran's funds from oil sales, according to Iranian officials who have warned to take legal action to gain access to the funds.
Iran has also criticized Japan for holding its foreign currency resources estimated around $1.5 billion. Japan was one of the main buyers of Iranian oil before the US imposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran in 2018 under former president Donald Trump.
More than $1.6 billion in Iranian funds are further held by Luxembourg-based Clearstream clearing house, a financial company owned by Deutsche Boerse.
Last April, a top court in Luxembourg officially blocked a long-running request by the US administration to seize the Iranian cash assets as compensation for alleged terror victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Iran’s funds frozen in foreign banks because of the US sanctions have additionally been subject to a witch hunt by the Americans who have used Washington’s animosity toward the Islamic Republic to easily win lawsuits against the country in US courts.
In January, the US government said it had seized $7 million in Iranian assets for “victims of terrorism”. Last October, reports said a US court had ordered Iran to pay more than $1.4 billion in punitive and compensatory damages to the family of a former FBI agent who allegedly disappeared during a visit to an Iranian island in March 2007.
Iran has denounced US seizures of its frozen assets as “highway robbery” and hauled the United States before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.
Al-Sharifi: Washington is secretly planning Iraq, and what is happening on the borders is a drop in the sea
The security expert, Ahmed Al-Sharifi, revealed, on Wednesday, that Washington will not leave Iraq at large without interfering with it, particularly in Baghdad.
Al-Sharifi said, in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, that "the White House is currently giving the Iraqi situation great attention and there are secret moves that are far from the eyes of the Iraqi government," stressing that "the next intention of the US government is to re-position and deploy in Iraq ."
He added, "The government should know that there are military movements under American political cover that pave the way for pre-prepared operations inside Iraqi territories that may be military or strategic plans."
He noted that "the amount of challenges facing the American presence in Iraq has increased the plans of the new US government to strengthen its strength, and therefore it is wrong to say that the change of administration in Washington has diverted American attention from Baghdad."
He pointed out that "everything is taking place out of sight, and perhaps the Iraqi government is not aware of it, as it is cooked away from the media and in dark rooms, and what is issued is just leaked information."
A member of the Kurdistan Parliament reveals the reason for the delay in implementing the budget agreement between Baghdad and Erbil
link
Jihad Hassan, a member of the Natural Resources Committee in the Kurdistan Regional Parliament, revealed today, Thursday (April 29, 2021) the reason for delaying the implementation of the budget agreement between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil, while denying the existence of a dispute between the regional government and oil companies operating in Kurdistan over the issue of oil delivery to Baghdad.
Hassan said in an interview with (Baghdad Today), “The issue of delaying the implementation of the budget agreement between Baghdad and Erbil has nothing to do with oil companies and their opposition to oil delivery at all.”
He added, “The issue is limited to the existence of some technical problems that will be resolved by the visit of the Kurdistan Regional Government delegation, which includes a group of ministers and will visit Baghdad in the coming days, to implement the budget agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.”
And local media have reported that there are differences between the regional government and the oil companies operating in Kurdistan regarding the delivery of the region’s oil to Baghdad.
okay I don't know who this man is
Amatzia Baram, Middle East Forum writing fellow and professor emeritus at the University of Haifa, spoke to a March 15 Middle East Forum webinar (video) about the achievements and failures of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, as well as his policy recommendations.
According to Baram, the assassination of IRGC General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020 opened the door for a prime minister with a more "neutral" and "balanced" approach to relations with America and Iran, in contrast to Iraq's prior "staunchly" pro-Iranian and anti-American prime ministers. As a consequence of Soleimani's absence, the powerful pro-Iranian militias in Iraq are less organized, and thereby less effective.
Mustafa Al-Kadhimi ascended to the prime ministry in May 2020 with the endorsement of Barhim Salah, the Kurdish moderate who is president of Iraq, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential Iraqi Shia cleric highly regarded as a "spiritual guide" by Shia throughout the world, which accounts for the pro-Iranian Iraqi parliament's acceptance of Kadhimi.
Baram listed Kadhimi's achievements as follows:
- The Iraqi army is "behind him, by and large," with "almost all the generals" and most of the middle-level officer corps supporting the prime minister.
- Iraq is on track to hold new elections in October with a new electoral law that promises to limit voter intimidation.
- An anti-corruption campaign has "begun the march" against widespread governmental corruption, with half a dozen former senior officials sentenced to prison terms and several others currently awaiting trial.
- Iraqi state police and military forces have taken control over roughly 25% of Iraq's border crossings, especially in the north, where Kurdish and American forces have been cooperative.
- Kadhimi's government has drafted a "reasonable" draft budget.
- The government has issued a White Paper on resuscitating the Iraqi economy. "It's just a declaration of intent ... but even that is important in itself."
- There has been "limited development of local electricity production" in three southern provinces.
- There has been "far less violence against protesters" on Kadhimi's watch.
- There have been some "very limited successes" against remaining ISIS forces in Iraq, and modest gains in rebuilding Mosul, which was largely destroyed under ISIS occupation. But Baram stressed the need for Kadhimi to encourage Iraqi Sunnis, many of whom are now refugees in Europe, to return to rebuild their communities.
According to Baram, the following are the main failures that still hamper progress in Iraq under Kadhimi:
Militias
As the former head of domestic security, Kadhimi is adept at securing his personal safety, but overall the domestic security in Iraq is still a pressing issue as the prime minister struggles to control militias. Despite the military's support for Kadhimi, it is not powerful enough to take on the militias.
Amatzia Baram, Middle East Forum writing fellow and professor emeritus at the University of Haifa, spoke to a March 15 Middle East Forum webinar (video) about the achievements and failures of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, as well as his policy recommendations.
According to Baram, the assassination of IRGC General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020 opened the door for a prime minister with a more "neutral" and "balanced" approach to relations with America and Iran, in contrast to Iraq's prior "staunchly" pro-Iranian and anti-American prime ministers. As a consequence of Soleimani's absence, the powerful pro-Iranian militias in Iraq are less organized, and thereby less effective.
Mustafa Al-Kadhimi ascended to the prime ministry in May 2020 with the endorsement of Barhim Salah, the Kurdish moderate who is president of Iraq, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential Iraqi Shia cleric highly regarded as a "spiritual guide" by Shia throughout the world, which accounts for the pro-Iranian Iraqi parliament's acceptance of Kadhimi.
Baram listed Kadhimi's achievements as follows:
- The Iraqi army is "behind him, by and large," with "almost all the generals" and most of the middle-level officer corps supporting the prime minister.
- Iraq is on track to hold new elections in October with a new electoral law that promises to limit voter intimidation.
- An anti-corruption campaign has "begun the march" against widespread governmental corruption, with half a dozen former senior officials sentenced to prison terms and several others currently awaiting trial.
- Iraqi state police and military forces have taken control over roughly 25% of Iraq's border crossings, especially in the north, where Kurdish and American forces have been cooperative.
- Kadhimi's government has drafted a "reasonable" draft budget.
- The government has issued a White Paper on resuscitating the Iraqi economy. "It's just a declaration of intent ... but even that is important in itself."
- There has been "limited development of local electricity production" in three southern provinces.
- There has been "far less violence against protesters" on Kadhimi's watch.
- There have been some "very limited successes" against remaining ISIS forces in Iraq, and modest gains in rebuilding Mosul, which was largely destroyed under ISIS occupation. But Baram stressed the need for Kadhimi to encourage Iraqi Sunnis, many of whom are now refugees in Europe, to return to rebuild their communities.
According to Baram, the following are the main failures that still hamper progress in Iraq under Kadhimi:
Militias
As the former head of domestic security, Kadhimi is adept at securing his personal safety, but overall the domestic security in Iraq is still a pressing issue as the prime minister struggles to control militias. Despite the military's support for Kadhimi, it is not powerful enough to take on the militias.
No comments:
Post a Comment