The President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, met this Friday evening in Abu Dhabi, with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
According to the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, the two sides discussed the UAE’s relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan region, and exchanged views on the situation of Iraq and the Kurdistan region, as well as the relations of Erbil-Baghdad, as well as on the latest developments in the region.
The two sides stressed strengthening relations in the economic and trade fields and cooperation in the field of energy, and talked about opportunities and fields of investment and employment of UAE money in Iraq and the Kurdistan region, especially in the field of infrastructure and development projects.
With regard to the situation and results of the Middle East, the two parties agreed in the view of the importance of joint action, cooperation and multilateral international solidarity in order to maintain security and stability and reduce the expansion and spread of further problems.
The relations of Erbil and Baghdad with neighboring countries and with the region, climate change and its consequences, and a number of issues of common concern, formed another aspect of the meeting.
The President of the Kurdistan Region arrived on Friday afternoon to the UAE on an official visit, during which he discussed with Emirati officials strengthening bilateral relations between the two sides.
Barzani concluded his visit to Abu Dhabi, which lasted for hours to return to the region.
Parliamentary Finance is confused by the large difference between the 2023 and 2024 budgets... and warns against stopping provincial projects
Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mustafa Al-Karawi, revealed today, Thursday (May 23, 2024), that service and urban projects, some of which are ministerial, have been halted due to the reduction in governorate allocations in the financial budget tables for the year 2024.
The Council of Ministers voted in an extraordinary session last Sunday on the budget schedules and referred them to the House of Representatives, which received them the day before yesterday, Tuesday.
Al-Karaawi said in a televised statement, followed by “Baghdad Today,” “We noticed in the budget tables that there was a reduction in allocations to the governorates, some of which reached 80% compared to what was allocated to them in last year’s budget, and this may cause projects to stop and not lead to covering their expenses and contractors’ dues, and this may be what may happen.” "It causes a problem and a gap in the issue of financing."
He stressed, "Projects, including ministerial ones, have been halted due to lack of funding," pointing out that "there is a turbulent indicator between the 2024 budget and last year in terms of project financing, and we will host the Ministers of Finance and Planning next week."
Al-Karaawi pointed out, “Preparing a list of clarifications and sending them to the Ministry of Finance about the reasons for the increase in expenditures, the mechanism for collecting oil and non-oil revenues, and the inflation of the financial deficit in the budget.”
He added, "The government has committed itself to collecting 27 trillion dinars in non-oil revenues during the year 2024, and we requested clarification from the Ministry of Finance about the mechanism for achieving this goal," noting that "there is an increase in the operating budget that reached 156 trillion dinars."
The parliamentary finance member expected that “the maximum time limit for approving the budget schedules will be before the end of the current legislative term on next June 9, so there will be an intensive program for the Finance Committee to discuss these schedules and find solutions to the problems in them.”
It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani revealed in a press conference following the cabinet session last Sunday the details of the budget schedules and said in the most prominent contents:
- Table (A) includes revenues totaling (144.336) trillion dinars, and Table (B) concerns total planned expenditures totaling (210.936) trillion dinars.
- The planned budget deficit amounted to (63.599) trillion dinars, and Table (C) is the centrally funded workforce table, amounting to (4,079,906) employees, and governing expenditures amounted to (10.042) trillion dinars.
- The investment budget for 2024 is (54.298) trillion dinars, and may reach 55 trillion dinars.
- Governorate allocations to local government programs with an investment allocation amounted to (10.633) trillion dinars in 2023, and we financed (3.333) trillion, based on fundamental requests from the governorates.
- The remainder of the allocation (7.333) trillion dinars is in a trust account, at the disposal of the provincial governments.
- Allocating approximately (8) trillion dinars to ongoing projects, including allocations in 2024.
- For the first time in the history of budgets, we exceeded spending by 50%.
The increase in debt repayment amounted to 3.9 trillion dinars. In 2023, the debt repayment was 12,751, and in 2024, we repaid 16.725 trillion. link
Why are all these bank CEO’s resigning?
Because China (and the rest of BRICS+, and those wanting to join) are selling dollars.
The East no longer wants to export their precious commodities to the West and take dollar credit as a form of payment.
If the U.S. can’t export dollar credit then treasury bonds collapse.
What funds the stock market? U.S. Treasury bonds.
Gold is rising because the world (China) is selling dollars.
Minister Of Electricity: We Are Working To Support The Private Sector By Establishing National Production Lines
Minister of Electricity Ziad Ali Fadel energy Economy News – Baghdad The Minister of Electricity, Ziad Ali Fadel, confirmed on Thursday that the ministry is working to support the private sector in the country by establishing national production lines.
The media office of the Minister of Electricity said in a statement, seen by Al-Eqtisad News, that “the Minister met with a delegation from the Riyadh Cable Company and a coalition of Al-Rowad companies for the production of electrical wires and cables.”
The Minister of Electricity confirmed, according to the statement, that “we have an intention to support the private sector and stimulate the industrial movement in the country by establishing national production lines that attract labor and contribute to meeting the electricity sector’s need for spare parts.”
He added: “We need to produce wires and cables (11, 33, and 132 kV) to keep up with demand and address bottlenecks.”
He pointed out that "there are controls for laboratory and factory tests conducted by the Ministry to proceed with competitive transactions in accordance with the approved specifications."
The Minister of Electricity continued, "Private sector companies have successful experiences with the ministry's formations, and we hope to strengthen them and develop production facilities in a way that serves and achieves the public interest."
With all things considered, our revaluation could extend to early June, but the point is, it's suspicious for the reasons stated in this widely distributed all of a sudden mysterious source. There is legitimate Intel from literally the horses mouth that June was a best Target month of Dr. Shabibi. The question is why?
Because Dr Shabibi said " the "project to delete the zeros with the rate change should be done at the beginning or middle of Iraqs fiscal year" FOR ACCOUNTING purposes!
That being said, June 2024 is the end of the 2nd quarter of Iraqs financial accounting ledger.
Hang in there everyone, the “END”of this financial saga will soon be at hand, IMO.
