More News, Rumors and Opinions Wed. PM 7-16-2025
KTFA:
Clare: IMF Explains Iraq's Exchange Rate Arrangement
16th July 2025 By John Lee.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a brief explainer on Iraq's exchange rate arrangement.
As part of a follow-up to last week's report on the state of the Iraqi economy, the IMF clarified as follows:
"Exchange Rate Arrangement
"Iraq's de jure and de facto exchange rate arrangements are classified as a conventional peg arrangement. The Central Bank Law gives the Board of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) the authority to formulate exchange rate policy.
"Effective February 8, 2023, the official exchange rate was set at ID 1,320 according to the closing prices of the daily bulletin of gold & main currencies published on the CBI website (www.cbi.iq).
"There has been a change to Iraq's exchange system since the last Article IV Consultation. Iraq continues to avail itself of the transitional arrangements under Article XIV, Section 2 but no longer maintains any restrictions under this provision.
Iraq does not maintain any current account exchange restrictions or MCPs [Managed Currency Pegs].
Starting January 2025, all international transactions have been routed through commercial banks via their correspondent banking relationships (CBRs).
"The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) replenishes these balances weekly based on foreign exchange demand and conducts audits to ensure that the allocated funds are used in compliance with AML/CFT regulations. Private banks are also encouraged to broaden their CBR networks, particularly with non-U.S. financial institutions." LINK
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Clare: Kurdish leader: Federal Council of Ministers to hold emergency meeting tomorrow... reason to be revealed
7/16/2025
Mahmoud Khoshnaw, a leader in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), revealed that an emergency meeting of the federal cabinet will be held tomorrow to discuss the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil, most notably the salaries of Kurdistan Region employees and oil exports.
Khoshnaw told Al Furat News: "A meeting was held recently in the region to discuss the salaries issue, and resulted in the approval of a draft memorandum of understanding between the two sides regarding the resumption of oil exports through SOMO, in addition to regulating non-oil revenues."
He added, "Both sides are counting on the Federal Council of Ministers meeting tomorrow, Thursday, to reach a legal and constitutional solution that will end the crisis and put an end to the escalating tension between the central government and the region, particularly regarding financial rights."
Raghad
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Courtesy of Dinar Guru: https://www.dinarguru.com/
Frank26 Community Comment: "The IMF just posted Iraq is not going to do anything with their exchange rate next year or the year after. We're screwed. They're never going to raise the value." Did you also see where the IMF posted Iraq is going through a revaluation of their currency right now? Which one are you going to accept.
Militia Man Everybody's ready to do business in Iraq. Now we're waiting to see if we can get this over the edge at any time now. We're hoping the resolution comes out of the oil deal with the Kurds and Baghdad. It's all budget related. That court case they postponed is effectively budget related because article 12-2C is an amendment for the '23/'24 budget... Before the parliament gets those 2025 budget schedules that's what I'm looking for.
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'They've Been EXPOSED' - SILVER Shorts Have Lost Control: Andy Schectman
Commodity Culture: 7-16-2025
Andy Schectman believes that the recent bullish price action in silver is directly related to the big bullion banks losing control of their short positions, and being forced to cover and go long the metal, as fundamentals overtake price manipulation in a major paradigm shift.
Andy discusses why now could be the time for silver to run to $50 and beyond, how a high silver price could affect industrial demand, the recent BRICS Summit in Rio and its implications for gold and the US dollar, and much more
00:00 Introduction
01:11 Time For Silver to Run?
11:53 Silver Shorts Have Lost Control
16:48 Industrial Impact of $50 Silver
23:50 BRICS Summit in Rio