The Kurdistan Region will be closed tomorrow on the anniversary of the liberation of Iraq, April 9
4/8/2024
The Kurdistan Regional Government announced the suspension of official working hours tomorrow, Tuesday, on the occasion of the anniversary of the “fall of the Baath regime” in 2003.
The Regional Government's Media and Information Department said in a statement, "Tomorrow, Tuesday, is a holiday in all government institutions on the occasion of the anniversary of April 9."
He added, "On April 9, 2003, the Baath regime fell and Iraq was liberated." LINK
This monetary reform is right in front of your face. It's at your doorstep.I envision being at the very edge of a cliff, on my tiptoes, with my arms out, leaning forward, my head down, waiting for a gust of wind to let me fly....
Frank26
When you hold up the new lower notes you will not be able to see all the safety features, not even with a black light. This currency is so far advanced you cannot counterfeit it because you don't even know what's in it.
Walkingstick
It's not 92% [of the 3 zero notes] they've collected. It's a lot more... It's at your doorstep.
Shafaq News / Once again, attention is turning to the President of the Kurdistan Region of Nechirvan Barzani, at a very sensitive moment, to address a new obstacle in the deep-rooted political dispute between Baghdad and Kurdistan, over a sentence of stal of outstanding files, to add to the recent and controversial Federal Court decisions.
visiting Baghdad
Nechirvan Barzani, the quiet figure known for solving problems through understandings, settlements and “rotating corners”, moved towards Baghdad, to meet with the presidents of the republic, Latif Rashid, the government, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, and to attend an extraordinary meeting of the coalition of state administration, and the coordination framework discussed in the number of files and problems, in addition to the upcoming Sudanese visit to Washington.
President Nechirvan Barzani also met with both the US ambassador and the French ambassador in Baghdad.
This round of talks is the first of its kind after the decisions of the Federal Court, which is the highest judicial authority in Iraq, as it led to the Iraqi Election Commission taking over the organization of the Kurdistan election process, a measure that has no precedent, in addition to its decision to cancel the seats of the minority quota, reducing the number of seats in the Kurdistan Parliament from 111 seats to 100 seats. The Federal also decided to withdraw financial authority from the Kurdistan Regional Government and transfer it to Baghdad regarding the payment of employee salaries.
These decisions described by the Democratic Party as “hitting the concepts of partnership and coexistence,” prompted it to announce its boycott of the region’s elections scheduled for next June, while at the same time elting to leave the political process if the pledges agreed with the political forces in Baghdad are not fulfilled.
account inventory
“Our meetings were generally within the framework of future relations between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad and I tried to develop a mechanism so that we can continue to hold these meetings so that the current problems can be discussed in one place and solutions found,” the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nichirvan Barzani, said in a summary of his visit.
He continued, “The issue of salaries is a fundamental issue for the Kurdistan Regional Government and the agreement reached between the Prime Minister of the Region and the Federal Prime Minister is a very good start and we hope that it will continue. We also discussed the issue of oil, and of course as the Kurdistan region we believe that the export of oil must be resumed, because this issue has caused great damage to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and so far the Iraqi budget has lost more than seven billion dollars.”
He added, “Of course this issue has been discussed, but it takes more delegations from the Kurdistan Regional Government to visit Baghdad and talk more about this issue, and we hope to reach a conclusion.”
On holding the elections for the Kurdistan Region on time, Nechirvan Barzani said, “It is my responsibility as President of the Kurdistan Region, we have set the date for holding elections and there is no change in this subject, and of course, this is a political issue and all political forces must talk about it and come out with an understanding from these discussions.”
“Solving problems according to agreements”
In this regard, the spokesman for the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region of Kurdistan Dalshad Chehab says to Shafaq News Agency, that President Nechirvan Barzani agreed with the Federal Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, “to implement the government program and steps have been taken for this, even if there is a delay or obstruction, the important thing is that there is a strong will by the Federal Prime Minister to implement the program as it is, and the President of the region expressed his support for the success of the program and spoke with importance to the step that has been taken to solve the problem of the salaries of the region’s employees, which is the result of the talks that took place and mutual visits between the delegations of the territorial government, the federal government and the President of the region by thanking his thanks to the Federal Prime Minister for his cooperation to solve these problems, as The latter stressed his appreciation for the support of the President of the region and valued his role as a stabilizing factor in Iraq and an effective factor in strengthening relations between all parties between the institutions of the Kurdistan region and federal institutions.”
“In general, all issues related to the judicial field, legislation and issuance of basic laws related to all Iraq or related to the Kurdistan Region, in addition to the Law of the Federal Court, the Law on Oil and Gas and the Federal Council are present in the agreement of the coalition of State Administration, and part of it in government programs, and they were voted on them by the House of Representatives, so solving these problems in general was the main axis in confirming the implementation of the government program, and that the two sides agreed to implement it and take steps towards solving problems,” says the spokesman for the Presidency of the region.
Shehab also stressed that “the Federal Prime Minister stressed the effective and influential role of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, in bringing the views closer to the thinking that refutes the belief that instability on one side is good for the other side, as the instability in the Kurdistan Region will have a direct repercussion on the situation in Iraq and vice versa, so there is one way is to agree on issues and solve problems, and Mr. Al-Sudani is the price of the role of the President of the region in developing these relations.”
Kurdistan elections
While the feeling now is on the basis of “strem, deton crisis,” the centrality of the role played by Nechirvan Barzani, and what he can do, and an emphasis from Sudanese on the importance of this, makes the ground available to contain these problems.
This is embodied in the file of the parliamentary elections in Kurdistan, where the spokesman for the presidency of the region says that this is an internal issue, and it is true that the federal institutions have a role in supporting the Commission and providing the appropriate ground, but the conduct and date of the elections is an internal issue, and talking about them is not related to other parties, as everyone confirms his support for holding the elections, but the mechanism for their completion and date is related to the Kurdistan region and we must talk about it between the Kurdish political authorities with the official institutions in the region, and trying to find an appropriate solution for them.
“There is a common goal for everyone, which is the need to hold elections, and the right approach for the presidency of the region is for the parties to reach an appropriate formula and any step taken by the presidency so far on the issue of elections that has been in consultation with all parties and will also be in the future,” he said.
Considering that the seat of the presidency of the region is the door that brings together the people and forces of the region, this shows through the confirmation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which is in the concept of political work, a rival rival to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, that President Nechirvan Barzani is working to normalize the situation between political parties with regard to the elections of the region.
Shafaq News quoted spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Saadi Bira, as saying that “the efforts of the President of the region are related to the response of the political parties to him, especially since it is acceptable to all, and works hard to normalize the situation, and he has a prominent role in the file of the elections of the parliament of the Kurdistan Region and we look forward to that.”
The importance of Saadi Beera’s statement lies, it came the day after the Political Bureau of the National Union of Kurdistan confirmed the need to hold elections on time by the presidency of the region on June 10.
It is known that President Nechirvan Barzani was fully keen to move towards the electoral process in response to the aspirations of the various political forces and citizens of the region, as one of the obvious rights that must be adhered to.
Before setting the June 10 date, Nechirvan Barzani set an election date before that on February 25, 2024. It had also set a date before that, specifically on November 18, 2023, but the Iraqi Elections Commission requested that it be postponed because it is near the date of the provincial council elections that took place on December 18. It was the Commission itself that returned and requested the postponement of the Feb. 25 date pending a decision by the Federal Supreme Court on the regional election law.
The president of the region has repeatedly moved between Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Baghdad, to address many controversial issues, including the political tension that affected the relationship between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the regional government after the ministers of the Union Party boycotted the sessions of the region’s Council of Ministers, and mutual accusations between the two parties were volid, and Nechirvan Barzani was intervening at the right moment to fulfil it.
Now with the positive results described in the visit to Baghdad, reinforced by the position of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan by betting on the intervention of the head of the region to address the situation, the observers expect the intensification of contacts by Nechirvan Barzani, including towards the Kurdistan Islamic Union Party, which said Wednesday through leader Othman Karwani that he opposes the postponement of elections, and that it is imperative for the Kurdistan Region to “hurcude its legislative and government institutions,” and the need to “unite between the parties and unite the Kurdish House to face the current situation.”
There seems to still be some confusion about the official exchange rate versus the real effective exchange rate... comments like
"When they get to the real effective exchange rate" or When they switch to the real effective exchange rate." Or "When they use the real effective exchange rate
"...This is confusing...what a real effective exchange rate is...An official exchange rate is at which country's currency can be exchanged for another country's' currency...
Real Effective Exchange Rate is a broader measure that takes into account not just one bilateral exchange rate but a weighted average of a country's currency against the basket of it's major trading partners... Iraq already reports the effective exchange rate...It's already there...you don't have to wait for the real effective exchange rate to come popping up, it's already being used...
Shafaq News / The Iraq Stock Exchange announced, on Monday, the suspension of its activity for six days.
The market said, in a statement received by Shafaq News: “Based on the decision of the Council of Ministers to declare a six-year official holiday for Eid al-Fitr, the market’s activities and deliberative sessions will be suspended for six days.
“The holiday will be as of Tuesday, April 9, with trading sessions to resume on Sunday, April 14,” he explained.
It is noteworthy that the Iraq Stock Exchange organizes five trading sessions per week from Sunday to Thursday, and is listed in it 103 Iraqi joint stock companies, representing the sectors of banks, communications, industry, agriculture, insurance, financial investment, tourism, hotels and services.
