Friday, December 1, 2023
Kurdish Delegation Fails to Separate Salaries from Budget in Talks with Iraqi Government, 1 DEC
Kurdish Delegation Fails to Separate Salaries from Budget in Talks with Iraqi Government
In a recent turn of events, a delegation from Iraq’s Kurdistan region failed to persuade Iraq’s federal government to separate employee salaries from Kurdistan’s share of the general budget. The delegation, led by the region’s Minister of Finance and Economy, Awat Sheikh Janab, faced a deadlock with the federal government over the crucial issue.
Non-Oil Revenue Dilemma
According to an anonymous Kurdish source from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the stalemate stems from a stipulation in the general budget law passed by the Iraqi parliament earlier this year. The law states that in exchange for the federal Ministry of Finance’s commitment to fund the region’s entitlements monthly, Kurdistan must deliver its non-oil revenues to the state. However, the narrative reveals that the agreement between the federal government and Kurdistan has not been fully honored, leading to recurring problems with funding the region’s employee salaries.
Discrepancy in Oil Production Costs
Apart from the non-oil revenue issue, the two parties also disagreed on the cost of oil production between companies operating in Kurdistan and others in the rest of the provinces. The federal general budget law for 2023-2025 sets the cost of producing and transporting each barrel of oil at $6-9. In stark contrast, the Kurdistan Natural Resources Ministry states that oil production costs in the region range from $32-91 per barrel, a significant discrepancy that poses yet another challenge to their agreement.
Unilateral Control and Rejected Requests
Adding to the complexities, the Kurdistan coordination framework is adopting a unilateral internal strategy to control all state positions, not just in the Shiite space but also in the wider Iraqi public space. This move has been met with some resistance, as evidenced by the Iraqi High Independent Commission for Elections’ rejection of a request from the former Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohammed Al-Halbousi. Al-Halbousi had requested that his parliamentary seat be filled by a candidate from the Progress Party, a request that the commission turned down.
Meanwhile, the West Bank has seen a surge in tensions, coinciding with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the region. Blinken’s visit comes amid efforts to extend a humanitarian truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, along with the exchange of more prisoners held in Gaza for Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. The interplay of these events paints a complex picture of the ongoing political and social dynamics in the region.
"RV UPDATE" BY MNT GOAT, 1 DEC
Mnt Goat
“ADVISER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: ECONOMIC POLICY IN IRAQ IS MOVING TOWARDS IMPLEMENTING THE PRINCIPLE OF MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY” WOW! WOW! WOW!
It tells us flat right out in the open that Iraq is about to take complete control over their currency again. WOW! ...This has reinstatement and RV written all over this statement...
What will 2024 look like?
I will say one thing for sure as it will not be business as usual in Iraq...I will also dismiss this silly notion once again that Iraq must first rebuilt their economy and then watch the value of the dinar grow with it from 1/6 of a penny upwards...
the very basis of the economy now is generating billions each month in oil revenues ...So why not reflect this value of the oil reserves alone in the rate of the dinar. If nothing else this wealth should be reflected into the equation of the rate of the dinar...
I mean right now, NOT five or ten years from now... we can see the current rate does not reflect the currency value...Oh…but there is much more growth already than just oil too...We know for a FACT the dinar is being “artificially suppressed”.
A Government Advisor Explains The Reasons For The Delay In Stabilizing The Exchange Rate In The Market, 1 DEC
A Government Advisor Explains The Reasons For The Delay In Stabilizing The Exchange Rate In The Market
Economy 2023-11-30 Today, Thursday, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, identified the priorities of the national project launched by Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani to protect the standard of living and end the influence of the informal market, while explaining the reasons for the delay in stabilizing the exchange rate in the market.
Mazhar Muhammad said, in a press interview, “Although the analysis of the main reasons for the continuation of the phenomenon of the exchange rate in the secondary market, which is witnessing fluctuations that are not commensurate with the strength of Iraq’s vast international reserves, in which the Central Bank of Iraq platform is responsible for financing external transfer requests from foreign currency that is specifically used For the purposes of financing foreign trade for the private sector,
however, it is still the subject of due diligence in organizing external transfer requests at an exchange rate of 1,320 dinars per dollar on the part of banks that is not commensurate with international compliance standards.”
He added, "Some of them have not reached the level of interest required globally because they mediate in the purchase of foreign currency for the benefit of the commercial community, some of which are subject to rejection. This accumulates a surplus demand that may find its way to financing and illegally towards the informal secondary market for exchange, which is a market that does not constitute... "Only 10% of the foreign currency supply, in addition to it being an illegal market and leaving colored noise on the stability of the exchange rate."
He continued: “Today, economic policy is responsible for following additional import windows for basic commodities and maintaining their stable and financed prices at an exchange rate of 1,320 dinars per dollar, and at the forefront of that is adopting a policy of defending price stability towards providing an additional commodity supply with a stable price, and in a national project launched by the Prime Minister.”
To protect the standard of living in a way that removes the real income of the citizen from the price noise of speculative forces in the illegal exchange market.
He pointed out that "one of the priorities of this project is the launch of the government trade arm, in cooperation with the national private sector, by providing 4 additional baskets to strengthen the commodity supply, which extend between food (in addition to the food basket), the pharmaceutical basket, the building supplies basket, and the basket of widely used reserve materials, especially related to the transportation sector and others." ".
He added: “Since the demand for foreign currency is a demand for foreign goods, services and benefits that take place outside the country (and not inside it as dollarization does and its harmful effects on the stability of the monetary system), the Iraqi monetary policy is working hard to address the problems of financing foreign trade.”
“The country has strong currencies that are stable in their exchange rates and at the same time adhere to the principles of international compliance and combating money laundering, in order to facilitate trade and investment relations between Iraq and its trading partners around the world.”
He pointed out that “these strong policies all provide a protective umbrella for economic stability, end the role of the irregular and illegal market, and distance their effects from price stability in a sustainable manner, as all of these policies work within the lofty goal of protecting Iraq’s monetary sovereignty and ending the use of foreign currencies in evaluating internal transactions.”
And keeping it away from the payments system and its operations within the national economy, which is a legacy that has extended since 1982, as dealing with the dollar internally in settling or paying for the buying and selling of goods, services, rents, and contracts within the national economy is an act that violates the law. https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/18583
Coffee with MarkZ and Mr. Cottrell. 12/01/2023
"RV UPDATE" BY BRUCE, 1 DEC
Bruce
[via WiserNow]
...we really do have good contact in Iraq. And we're getting word that the ATM machines are filled with the lower denomination bills like ours...10 20 50 and 100 dinar notes - I think those are all available in the actual ATM machines...
Now they have been working...since Thanksgiving - maybe a little bit before that - in the airport locations in Baghdad and at the border location – where ever the ATM’s are at the border...they are working now and they are in use...I do not believe they're all in use all over the country yet. But I think that is about to change...they are minting new coins for people to use...Iraqis are going to feel a little jingle in their pockets soon...
I've been told that we should get notifications... Thursday, very early morning...possibly wake up to it on a Thursday. Let's see what happens.
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Frank26 [Bank story] This time we didn't go down, we just called [the bank]... We said we want to see if we can exchange some cu...
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Bank appointment for Currency EXCHANGE Instructions/Checklist Bank Name_________________________________________ Bank 800#____________...
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Walkingstick All these meetings that the CBI had with all these agencies that were helping them with their monetary reform are done. Al...