Saturday, November 23, 2024
The American consul in Erbil speaks of “economic opportunities” that bring great benefits to Iraq and the United States, 23 NOV
Shafaq News / The US consul to Erbil, Steve Bitner, spoke on Saturday about “economic opportunities” that will bring great benefits to Iraq and the United States of America.
“The strategic agreement between the two countries includes many aspects, including economic, cultural, health and environmental cooperation, and the consolidation of common relations,” Bitner said during his participation in a dialogue session at the Peace and Security Forum held by the American University of Duhok.
“Over the past 20 years, security and political concerns have dominated relations between the United States and Iraq, but recently attempts have emerged to focus on economic opportunities that will bring significant benefits to both countries,” Bitner said.
On Friday, the activities of the Fifth Forum for Peace and Security in the Middle East, hosted by the American University of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, began in Duhok governorate.
The forum is attended by the Presidents of the Republic, the President of the Kurdistan Region, and a large number of local, Arab and international official figures.
The two-day forum is in charge of the two-day forum that it includes dialogue sessions, seminars and workshops on the situation in the Middle East and the world, and that it aims to build bridges of cooperation between the various participating countries, discuss problems and solutions, and the role of society in the Middle East.
NADER FROM MID EAST CC HIGHLIGHTS NOTES, 23 NOV
NADER FROM MID EAST CC HIGHLIGHTS NOTES
Summary
Iraq’s monetary policy aims to stabilize the dinar against the dollar to reduce exchange rate gaps, curb inflation, and stimulate economic growth.
Highlights
- 📉 Fixed exchange rate: Iraq uses a peg system to stabilize the dinar against the dollar.
- 💰 Inflation control: The policy seeks to curb inflation and support purchasing power.
- 🌍 Oil dependency: The economy heavily relies on oil revenue, impacting exchange rate stability.
- 🔄 Market fluctuations: Dollar supply affects exchange gaps, widening during oil price declines.
- 🏦 Banking issues: Limited credit deposits hinder exporters, forcing reliance on parallel markets.
- 📊 Economic repercussions: Exchange rate gaps lead to broader social stability concerns.
- 👨👩👧👦 Impact on families: Limited-income families suffer from inflation and purchasing power loss.
Key Insights
- 🔒 Exchange Rate Stability: A fixed exchange rate aims to reduce volatility, essential for economic planning and growth. Without stability, investor confidence may wane.
- 📈 Inflationary Pressures: Fluctuations in the exchange rate can lead to increased costs, directly impacting household budgets and savings, especially for lower-income families.
- ⛽ Oil Revenue Dependence: Iraq’s economy’s reliance on oil dollars makes it vulnerable to global market changes, highlighting the need for economic diversification.
- 🔍 Parallel Market Risks: When official dollar supplies dwindle, traders turn to parallel markets, which can exacerbate inflation and inequality among citizens.
- ⚖️ Economic Policy Challenges: Policymakers face significant challenges in bridging exchange gaps, which are critical for maintaining social stability and economic growth.
- 📉 Exporter Struggles: Low flexibility in non-oil exports leads to decreased financial resilience for traders, affecting their ability to sustain operations.
- 🌐 Global Market Sensitivity: The economy’s sensitivity to global oil prices underscores the importance of strategic planning in monetary policy to weather economic downturns.
Expectations of an "elite" Iranian delegation arriving in Baghdad.. 3 files on the table, 23 NOV
Expectations of an "elite" Iranian delegation arriving in Baghdad.. 3 files on the table
An informed source expected, today, Friday (November 22, 2024), the arrival of an elite Iranian delegation to Baghdad within the next 72 hours.
The source said in an interview with "Baghdad Today", "Tehran has indirect lines of communication through 3 Arab countries, including Baghdad, with the White House to convey messages and positions regarding developments in the Middle East and ways to prevent it from reaching the stage of comprehensive war."
He added that "an elite Iranian delegation may arrive in Baghdad within the next 72 hours to discuss Tehran's positions on three files, most notably Gaza and Lebanon, the importance of stopping the war, and its vision of the situation and the roadmap that could stop the tensions at a certain point."
He pointed out that "Tehran is very open to the issue of stopping the war as quickly as possible and pressuring Western countries, including America, in order to move the pressure tools on the entity and stop the genocide machine," noting that "all indicators show that the Middle East is facing rapid changes, and the language of diplomacy may be slightly higher for the first time than the language of war."
In a related matter, an informed source revealed, on Thursday (November 21, 2024), an Iranian message with positive content to Washington through Iraqi mediators.
The source said in an interview with "Baghdad Today", "Tehran sent yesterday, through Iraqi mediators, an indirect message to America about its vision for resolving the crisis and the dangerous escalation in the Middle East, starting with ending the war of extermination in Gaza and southern Lebanon, stopping the bombing in Beirut and seeking a roadmap with an international vision."
He added that "the Iranian message carried diplomatic signals in most of its lines, which means that it wants to reach a solution that ends the current conflict according to a vision with specific dimensions, while indicating that it does not want a comprehensive war, but will engage in it if it is imposed on it directly."
He pointed out that "it can be sensed that the Iranian military option on Tel Aviv has been postponed at the present time in light of undeclared international efforts to prevent the explosion of the Middle East, in addition to waiting to see the new American president and how he will deal with the files of the East and his promises to end the war."
The source said that "Iran has begun to tone down its rhetoric towards diplomacy, through which solutions can be reached that contribute to stopping the bloodshed, while declaring a firm position that it will not abandon the axis of resistance."
Iraq played the role of mediator in the indirect dialogue between Washington and Tehran, and contributed to preventing events from developing into a major regional comprehensive war. link
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