Shafak News / The Managing Director Of The International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Gurgieva, Confirmed On Sunday That Central Banks Are Facing A “Difficult Budget Process” As Interest Rates Begin To Cut Interest Rates Around The World In Light Of The Ecline Inflation.
Central banks on both sides of the Atlantic cut interest rates this year, as the US Federal Reserve cut its key lending rate by half a percentage point last Wednesday in a bid to boost demand, a few months after the European Central Bank began cutting the key interest rate.
“But while central banks are cutting interest, they should be careful,” Gorgieva added at an event with ECB head Christine Lagarde in Washington.
“Central banks have a difficult task of striking a balance, central banks must ensure that inflation returns sustainably to its target and stay there, and maintain it, while avoiding the risk of excessively tightening monetary policies,” Gorgieva said.
She explained: While economic activity was weaker than we clearly wanted, but it was remarkably flexible, and while inflation was falling and interest rates fell, it seemed unlikely to fall into a recession.
The European Central Bank has cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point twice already this year, while the Bank of England voted Thursday to leave interest rates unchanged after just one cut, as inflation in the UK remained above the target.
“Decisive political measures have succeeded in maintaining inflation expectations,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said two days ago, adding that inflation is still on track to reach its 2 percent target in the middle of next year.
She said: “But is the mystery over? No, there’s still a lot of that around us.”
Ali Al-Alaq is still the acting Director of the CBI just as we were told by my CBI contact the GOI never did accept his resignation.
The goals are still the same as they want to eliminate this Black Market corruption with the dollar and set the rate first at par with the official CBI rate.
Then once this is in control, they intend to change the official rate and the rest is history as the saga of the currency swap out can then occur.
A US report said that Washington and Baghdad have reached an agreement on the withdrawal of US and other foreign forces from Iraq by the end of 2026.
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U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal that hundreds of U.S. and coalition forces stationed in Baghdad, western Iraq and other parts of the country will leave by next September, a year followed by the withdrawal of troops in Erbil by the end of the following year.
The outlines of the withdrawal plan have been completed, the officials said, but some final details still need to be resolved, especially with other members of the international coalition. Even after 2026, a small U.S. force is likely to remain in advisory capacity for logistical support to U.S. forces stationed in Syria under a new bilateral security agreement with Iraq, the officials said.
A Pentagon official announced in early September that the United States was aware of the reports that appeared in the media about possible plans to withdraw American troops from Iraq, but the United States “is not yet ready to announce any specific dates.”
The US official’s statement came after Reuters published a report on the Iraqi government and the international coalition led by Washington against the terrorist organization ISIS reached an understanding on the plan to end its operations, and that the plan includes the exit of hundreds of international coalition forces from Iraq by September 2025, while the rest will withdraw in 2026.
Today alone in their news, four different articles talking about deleting the zeros. This investment has gotten real. The rate can change at any time now. It's very close.
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Jeff
The Supreme Judicial Council has decided it's time for the current central bank governor to retire. Remember this is his second term. During his first term back in the year of 2018 that's when he printed the new lower smaller category denominations notes with his signature on them. The only reason they put him back in for a second term was to commission the rate change. Now they're saying he's going to be forced into retirement. No retirement date has been provided.
Jeff
The news is now really starting to ramp up. Critical steps are coming forward...They're going to fall into place like clockwork. August through September is going to be the most critical period in this investment that we've ever witnessed.
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Jeff
Iraq just competed their 5 year development plan...That's basically the reform plan...They completed the reform plan, that's a required step for their accession to the World Trade.
Jeff
They haven't implement their budget yet because they're waiting for the rate to change. Everything in Iraq...the budget, the laws, the overturning the budget, everything out there is being stalled and delayed to be timed with the rate change.
Article: "Four counties meet in Baghdad to support the development road project"
...You have to look at their timing. They finished the 5-year development plan around the end of July walking into the beginning of August. Why? Timing. They're about to revalue. Their actions strongly suggest to me personally IMO I really feel they're going to be revaluing in August.
On the eve of his departure to New York, Al-Sudani de-escalates tensions with 3 meetings with the leaders of the “Framework ”
The Prime Minister will hold meetings with world leaders and present his government's achievements.
It seems that Mohammed Al-Sudani, the Prime Minister, has greatly eased the tensions at home after holding meetings with the leaders of the “Coordination Framework” on the eve of his departure from New York to attend the United Nations meetings for the second time since he assumed power about two years ago.
The "framework" media opposing Al-Sudani, which was active during the past month, has clearly declined, attacking the Prime Minister against the backdrop of the alleged wiretapping case, according to the government's description, and the escape of Nour Zuhair, the main accused in what is known as the "theft of the century."
The Prime Minister's media office stated in a statement yesterday that "Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani left the capital, Baghdad, heading to New York, to participate in the meetings of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly."
The media office stated in an earlier statement, the day before yesterday, that "the Prime Minister will deliver Iraq's speech before the General Assembly, and will also deliver a speech at the Future Summit, in which many heads of state and presidents participate, and which is concerned with enhancing cooperation, confronting challenges, and affirming commitments.”
He continued, “Al-Sudani will hold a series of meetings and dialogues with a number of leaders and presidents of brotherly and friendly countries, and heads of participating delegations, in addition to a meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and a number of officials of international and UN organizations and bodies."
The region has been experiencing tension for about a year due to the war in Gaza, and the expansion of mutual strikes between factions and Western interests in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
The day before yesterday, Abu Alaa al-Walaei pledged to send 100,000 fighters to the Lebanese border, coinciding with the killing of a leader in one of the Iraqi factions in Syria.
Al-Walaei, a leader in the “Framework” and the head of the “Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades” faction, said in a message published by the media, “A flood of Iraqi human beings will come, crowding the borders and trenches of Lebanon. If Hezbollah loses a thousand martyrs, we will supply it with a hundred thousand heroes.”
On Friday, leaders from Hezbollah were killed in an Israeli raid in Beirut, while before that, a series of small explosions hit the party's communications devices in Lebanon.
Yesterday, the Hezbollah Brigades announced the killing of Abu Haidar al-Khafaji “in an Israeli attack while performing his duties as a security advisor in Damascus,” according to a statement by the Brigades reported by media outlets close to the Lebanese Hezbollah.
According to some information, al-Sudani's visit to New York is expected to witness Baghdad's confirmation of its firm position on "protecting American diplomats," as the government has so far succeeded in maintaining the truth between the factions and Washington since last February.
Baghdad is preparing next year, according to Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi, to begin the US withdrawal from Iraq, over two years and in two phases. In contrast, American media outlets are talking about the possibility of a “small advisory force” remaining after 2026 to assist US forces in Syria, while there is no confirmation from the Pentagon yet on the withdrawal plan. Internal de-escalation:
Al-Sudani sent reassuring messages to his allies in the “Coordination Framework,” according to political affairs researcher Ali Al-Baydar.
On the eve of his departure to New York, Al-Sudani held meetings with Qais Khazali, Haider al-Abadi, and Hadi al-Amiri.
Over the past month, the government has faced severe Shiite criticism due to the “wiretapping” and “Nour Zuhair” crises.
Al-Baydar said in a phone call with (Al-Mada) that “the meetings in a tense climate regionally and internally are important to resolve crises.”
Speaking about the recent meetings, he added: “The prime minister did not want to leave the country while it is in crisis, or he wanted to prevent the problems from worsening before leaving for New York.” Official statements after Al-Sudani’s three meetings with the leaders of the “Coordination Framework” confirmed the completion of the government’s programs.
Leaks had spoken of “strictness” from Nouri al-Maliki, the leader of the State of Law, due to the “wiretapping” case, regarding removing Al-Sudani from his position or holding early elections.
Regarding the timing of those meetings, Al-Baydar said: “It may be because the prime minister informed the leaders of the framework of the program for the visit to New York, or the leaders asked him for some recommendations.”
The political researcher believes that some leaders may have had “private messages or views on foreign relations that they shared with Al-Sudani.”
Al-Baydar considered that the situation inside the country is now “moving towards calm,” indicating that Al-Sudani “has the ability to transform any crisis into a rapprochement plan.”
Efforts to reduce tension within the Shiite alliance appeared clear, as the intensity of the rhetoric of some news platforms affiliated with the “framework” decreased during the last two days.
In New York,
Ghazi Faisal, a former diplomat, believes that Al-Sudani will present the fundamental positions of Iraqi foreign policy at the annual UN General Assembly meetings, especially with regard to the war that has been going on since last October. He added in an interview with Al-Mada that "Al-Sudani will emphasize Iraq's firm position on stopping the war in Gaza, and moving to guarantee the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to build a stable state, and to return to the 1967 borders."
"He will certainly talk about the importance of building security and peace in the Middle East and enhancing regional cooperation and economic integration, which Iraq emphasized at the Baghdad International Regional Conference 1 and 2, which formed the basis for security and political cooperation between Iraq and Its geographical neighbors, in addition to Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf, and the relationship with Turkey in the field of water, environment, desertification and the path of strategic development,” Faisal added.
Faisal, who runs the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, also expected that Al-Sudani would explain in the New York meetings "the nature of what the government has achieved in confronting financial corruption and organized crime and stabilizing the currency, and the government's measures to confront a wide range of internal security and political challenges.”link