KTFA:

DELTA:  Today, Wednesday, the governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved Iraq's request to become a shareholder in the bank.

The request was approved during the bank's annual meeting held in a virtual session due to the outbreak Corona Virus.

And the European Bank Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is a multilateral development bank that uses investment as a tool to help build market economies and was founded in 1991

https://www.alsumaria.tv/news/ 

Popeye7:  A very telling show of trust by European banks for Iraq

Bambi:  And the European Bank Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is a multilateral development bank that uses investment as a tool to help build market economies and was founded in 1991...

Sooo...what comes to mind is Kuwait revalued their currency in 1991, I wonder if the EBRD had anything to do with that? IMO

Don961:  The reform paper ... a new salary ladder and measures to maximize revenues

5,400 Economie 2020/10/07 20:48 ht  Baghdad today - Baghdad

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Representative Naji Ardis, revealed, on Wednesday, October 07, 2020, the most prominent contents of the reform paper presented by the Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi, to improve the economic reality in the country.

In an interview with (Baghdad Today), Ardis said, "The white reform paper presented by the Minister of Finance to improve the economic reality in Iraq focused on two very important aspects in order to apply it during the coming short period. The first: stopping waste in the public expenditures of the state, for example we buy "The imported Iranian gas is three times as much, then we give it to the electricity production company in the Basmaya region to sell energy to the government, electricity for three times, and this causes a great waste of public money."

He added that "the other and important aspect of the reform paper is to maximize public revenues, whether direct tax or customs, as well as setting a new salary scale to achieve the principle of social justice, to reduce the disparity in the salaries of ministries and government institutions."

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Mazhar al-Jubouri, said Tuesday (October 06, 2020) that the Minister of Finance had burdened the country with large debts, while he indicated that the white reform paper had turned black, he said.

Al-Jubouri said in an interview with (Baghdad Today), that "the government is directing the problem of delaying the payment of salaries to the House of Representatives, and he is innocent of it," noting that "the Minister of Finance pledged before taking office to present a white paper for comprehensive economic reforms, despite repeated calls to him to present it." As it was the core of our work, it was only air in a net, ”he said.

He added, "The government and the Ministry of Finance gave them two months after the vote on the borrowing law to present the paper, but nothing happened to Parliament," indicating that "the great calamity is that finance demands borrowing again."

The deputy asked, "What is the benefit of the ministry and its advanced staff and advisors, if their work is to borrow and distribute salaries without any other solutions?" Noting that "the Minister of Finance has burdened the country with large debts, which are mainly suffering from debts accumulated for decades."

He pointed out that "the coming days will witness a problem between the parliament and the government because of the borrowing law, and linking it to the distribution of salaries," explaining that "the government sends negative messages through pressure to obtain borrowing under the pretext of paying salaries that will burden the country with debts."

He explained, "The Minister of Finance's reformist white paper has turned black," noting that his committee "isolated the borrowing law completely from the budget last year, but now we were forced to borrow so that salaries can be paid in this miserable way."  LINK

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Samson:  Al-Rafidain: Our branches started their work today to distribute the salaries of employees

09:40 - 10/08/2020

Al-Rafidain Bank announced, on Thursday, that its branches in Baghdad and the governorates will start working hours today to complete the payment of employees' salaries.

The media office of the bank said in a statement received / the information /, a copy of it, that “based on the directives of the Minister of Finance and follow-up and supervision by the bank’s director general, the bank’s branches in Baghdad and the governorates are open to receive and pay the salaries of state departments employees.”

The statement added that "the salaries of many of the state's domiciled departments have been raised their salaries at the bank during the past two days and for holders of the MasterCard."

He explained that "the bank continues to provide its branches with the necessary sums to complete the process of paying salaries and distribute them to employees easily and without any obstacles."  LINK

Samson:  The Anti-Corruption Committee arrests the Vice-Investment Authority at Baghdad Airport

7th October, 2020

An informed source revealed, on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the arrest of a senior official as part of the anti-corruption campaign at Baghdad International Airport.

The source added, "The Anti-Corruption Commission arrested, on Wednesday, by a court order, Salar Muhammad Amin, the head of the investment commission in charge, who served as vice president earlier."   LINK

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Don961:  A thousand billion ... What if? … Sahban Faisal

2020-09-30  Sahaban Faisal Mahjoub - Consulting Engineer wrote:

The figures indicate, according to certified statistical documents, that the total annual financial budgets for seventeen years past have exceeded one thousand billion dollars. This number exceeds the total budgets of the Iraqi state, since its establishment in 1921 until the year of the occupation in 2003.

Before the occupation, Iraq witnessed, despite the exceptional circumstances, a construction boom in which distinct edifices were built that included all aspects of life (integrated infrastructure, a typical educational system, a capable military force, a solid industrial base) ... ... etc.

Under the occupation and the domination of successive quotas governments, the Iraqi citizen did not touch any shifts in the development of public services and did not witness a new construction for any of the life facilities, but witnessed a decline in them and an aging of their facilities until some of them became partially or completely paralyzed where the deficit occurred in infrastructure projects And it became unable to provide the necessary public services.

Iraq is considered one of the developed countries in the region, with the quality of scholars, academics, and professional experts, and many of them with different specializations.

Returning to the number of the thousand .. What if this two billion figure, which Iraq gained from the sales of its national wealth, was spent since the year of the occupation on the basis of wisdom, sound awareness, independence of national decision and conditions of integrity away from confusion and according to accurate scientific foundations in planning?

It is recognized that, in light of the availability of the national will, Iraq would be at the forefront of the countries that were able to secure the infrastructure according to solid and modern foundations, achieving distinctive stability for their societies, and consequently the welfare of the citizen.

I put a lot of money in perforated containers and were a catalyst to move corrupt hands to take over it ugly.

In the electricity sector, for example, nearly sixty billion US dollars were allocated to rebuild and develop the electrical system. The successive administrations in the Gaza Strip, after the occupation, refused to deal with them, and this was due to the absence of the national will and the adoption of inadequate and sterile plans that were written by the failure to devise decisive solutions, in addition to leaving the doors through which corruption infiltrated legally without a trusted watchdog.

The waste in spending was not limited to the electricity sector only, but also included all sectors: (productivity, service, educational, health) and all other sectors, which achieved a clear decline in the efficiency of their performance, as the citizen was deprived of what was expected of him in terms of improvement in services and the achievement of foundations good life.  link

Don961:  Surprise .. Central banks give up investing in gold

 Economy  ,   2020/10/07 21:00   

Baghdad - Iraq today:

Most of the central banks around the world abandoned investing in gold last August, in a surprise that did not reflect the great rise that the yellow metal achieved during 2020.

The World Gold Council said, on Wednesday, that central banks sold more gold last August than they bought, ending a year and a half of monthly increases in gold purchases.

The council stated that this central bank’s decision contributed to halting the rapid rise of the yellow metal price.

Gold rose from just above $ 1,500 at the start of 2019 to a record high of $ 2,072.50 in early August and then down to around $ 1,900.

Investors in Europe and North America pushed prices up and raised gold in hopes that it would retain its value during the Corona crisis.

But demand from major consumers such as jewelers and central banks has been weak, sparking concerns about a continuing rally.

The Gold Council said that central banks, which collectively hold 35,000 tons of gold worth about $ 2 trillion, sold 12.3 tons more than they bought in August.

Central banks bought 656 tons of gold in 2018, the highest number in half a century.

Last year, purchases amounted to 650 tons.

Today, gold prices rose by about 1% to recover from early losses incurred at the beginning of the session, while silver shined after a significant increase in its prices.

Gold had fallen by about 2% in the previous session, driven by new concerns about the economic recovery and the uncertainty surrounding the US presidential elections.

And gold increased in spot trading 1% to 1895.46 dollars an ounce by 0727 GMT.

The US President, who is still being treated for Covid-19, announced the suspension of negotiations on an additional stimulus package until the presidential elections on November 3.

The announcement boosted the US dollar and pushed gold lower. The yellow metal is widely seen as a hedge against inflation and a depressed currency.  link

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Don961:  With the help of the internet giants, Washington confiscates dozens of Iranian "propaganda" websites

 France Press  08 October 2020

As of Wednesday, visitors to these sites are seeing the confiscation message

On Wednesday, the United States confiscated the names of 92 Iranian "propaganda" electronic domains, including four English-language news sites "operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or for its own account."

The US Department of Justice stated, in a statement, that these sites were identified thanks to information obtained from Google, and then with the help of Twitter and Facebook.

The statement pointed out that 4 of these sites, namely, "News Stand7.com", "USJournal.net", "USJournal.com" and "TW Today.net" were "operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards or operated." For his account "with the aim of influencing domestic and foreign policy of the United States.

The other 88 domain names include news sites that aim to "spread Iranian propaganda" aimed at Western Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

As of Wednesday, visitors to these sites now see a message bearing the slogans of the US Department of Justice and the "FBI" entitled "This site has been confiscated."

The contents of the letter explain that "this domain was seized by the FBI based on a forfeiture warrant issued by the Northern District Court in California."

"We will continue to use all the tools available to us to prevent the Iranian government from misusing American companies or social networks for the purpose of spreading propaganda, trying to influence the American public, and spreading chaos," the statement quoted Assistant Attorney General John Demers as saying.

He added, "Bodies that spread false news have become a new means of misleading, used by authoritarian states that continue their attempts to undermine our democracy."  LINK