Iraqi News Friday Afternoon 6-17-22
Iraqi News Friday Afternoon 6-17-22
TLM724 Administrator BondLady’s Corner
After Al-Sadr Withdrew .. “Financial Paralysis” In Iraq Due To The “Government Formation Crisis”
Posted On2022-06-17 By Sotaliraq Warnings of Iraq remaining without a financial budget escalated due to the delay in forming the government, amid concern about the repercussions of the global food crisis, at a time when local food production fell below the level of demand with the increase in population inflation.
The differences between the Iraqi political blocs, since the parliamentary elections on the tenth of last October, have prevented the formation of a new government, while Iraqi laws prevent the current government from disposing of oil sales funds as a "caretaker government."
And the World Bank said in a report, Thursday, that “Iraq is gradually emerging from the deep recession that it experienced in 2020 due to the Corona virus pandemic and the accompanying collapse in oil prices, as after a contraction of more than 11% in 2020, the Iraqi economy achieved a growth rate of 2.8 percent in 2021, with the easing of restrictions imposed by the Corona pandemic on movement.”
He added, "With the gradual cancellation of (OPEC +) production cuts, the oil GDP also began to grow in the second half of 2021, and the rise in oil revenues prompted a surplus in public financial balances and total external balances in Iraq in 2021. “.
The report quoted the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at the World Bank, Saroj Kumar Jah, as saying that “Iraq has a unique opportunity to carry out urgent and broad structural reforms through 3 means, which are to take advantage of the fiscal space resulting from its recent sudden oil revenues, and to redirect government spending towards programs that It works to improve growth and address the country’s human capital crisis.”
The World Bank report confirms that “the current food security challenges in Iraq have intensified in the midst of the current rise in global commodity prices, while the level of domestic food production is less than the demand caused by rapid population growth, and severe droughts and other climate change factors have exacerbated This situation".
The report believes that "the delay in forming the government and approving the 2022 budget will lead to limiting the use of the country's sudden oil revenues, as the actual ceilings of the 2021 budget have been reached, and the implementation of new investment projects will be suspended, which may reduce economic growth."
The previous parliament was supposed to legislate the 2022 budget law, but the holding of early elections in October 2021, and the failure to form a new government after the parliamentary elections, prevented the legislation of the budget, which raised the concern of the popular circles, especially with the increasing size of the economic crisis in Iraq.
This situation has caused delays in farmers’ entitlements, disruption of ration card coverage, suspension of investment projects that employ the workforce, as well as disruption of new projects that need to be included in the financial budget, while the current government remains with restricted powers to run daily affairs.
financial paralysis
The Iraqi Council of Ministers advisor, Mazhar Muhammad, believes that “the delay in approving the 2022 budget has led to a paralysis in the financial life, as the government is committed to a limited spending method without sufficient ability to deter economic problems and address them, which calls for the need to expedite access to “The delay in enacting the budget law led to a slowdown in the overall economic activity, including investment spending, which is necessarily included in the budget laws, up to side matters such as spending on some vulnerable groups such as social protection and caring for the poor, although the adoption of the Food Security Law focused on some of those Categories".
The Iraqi parliament recently approved the Food Security Law, which is a mini financial budget that came to remedy the crisis of the delay in approving the budget, in light of the country's need for extensive spending to finance official departments, with exchange doors still waiting for the legislation in force.
Economic researchers believe that Iraq needs a government with full powers to invest the financial abundance, and pump the largest amount of it into the markets to control the prices of goods and food, and move the investment wheel, especially since hundreds of projects still need cash payments to resume their work. A secure economic situation in line with the current situation. LINK
The President Of The Republic Discusses With A Delegation Of Independent Deputies The Political Developments
Iraq The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, and a delegation of independent representatives discussed the political developments and challenges facing the country.
And the Presidency of the Republic said in a statement, "The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, received, at the Peace Palace in Baghdad, a delegation of independent representatives in the House of Representatives."
She added, "During the meeting, they discussed the political developments and challenges facing the country at the current stage, and the need to work to confront them responsibly, unite everyone, unify the national ranks, and give priority to the supreme interest of the country and citizens," noting that "emphasis was placed on taking into account the aspirations and needs of the people. service and livelihood, ensuring security and stability in the country and consolidating the state and its reference.”
https://www.radionawa.com/all-detail.aspx?jimare=29955
The Central Bank Of Iraq: We Launched 17 Trillion Dinars Of Development Initiatives
Central Bank Governor Mustafa Ghaleb scary Banks Economy News – Baghdad The Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb Mikhaif, announced that the Central Bank has launched development initiatives that exceeded 17 trillion dinars so far.
A statement by the Central Bank, received by Al-Iqtisad News, said, "The Central Bank of Iraq organized, today, Thursday, in cooperation with the ministries of environment, agriculture and water resources, the Association of Iraqi private banks and the private sector, a specialized workshop on climate change, desertification and national security. "
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mustafa Ghaleb, said during a speech at the opening of the workshop, that climate change, desertification and water shortage represent a frightening trinity that has introduced humanity and its official and societal bodies to the utmost caution and caution because it threatens its national security and the future of its generations, but also its present .
He added, that the Central Bank of Iraq has intervened through financial facilitation measures and development initiatives, the total of which has exceeded (17) trillion so far, pointing out that when we studied with the Ministry of Environment the risks of climate change and heat emissions, we decided to face challenges related to clean energy and sustainability, and we also launched an initiative to finance the purchase of units Generating electricity from renewable energy at an amount of (1) trillion dinars .
In turn, the ministers praised during the workshop the initiatives of the Central Bank of Iraq and the support it gives towards a green economy, reviewing the danger of climate changes to the future of Iraq and the countries of the world, stressing the need to combat those climate changes by investing in the environmental aspect .
At the conclusion of the workshop, a number of recommendations were established, most notably the need for cooperation of all government institutions and the private sector to confront the risks of climate change and desertification, raise awareness of taking official and societal measures, encourage the public to switch to using sources of electricity generation from renewable energy, and provide the necessary financial support to all sectoral ministries in order to Rationalization of water uses .
A number of ambassadors of Arab and foreign countries and representatives of international institutions, in addition to representatives of ministries and some governorates and directors of relevant authorities, participated in the workshop . 711 views Added 06/16/2022 - 11:48 PM Update 06/17/2022 - 5:12 PM
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=28513
Kurdistan Reveals The Details Of Its Oil File, The Mechanism Of The Agreement With Baghdad, And The Measures To Prevent Gasoline Smuggling
Energy Economy News _ Baghdad Today, Friday, the Kurdistan Regional Government clarified the mechanism of the agreement with the federal government regarding oil imports, confirming work to establish two oil companies, while it denied smuggling gasoline from the center and south to the provinces of the region.
Import delivery.
Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman, Jutiar Adel, said in a statement to a number of media outlets, and followed by "Economy News", that "negotiations with Baghdad are continuing regarding the oil and budget files and the rest of the files," noting that "the Kurdistan Regional Government has agreed with the current Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi regarding these two files." Which ended with the 2021 budget agreement.
He added that "many wonder about the Kurdistan government not handing over oil imports to the center, as it was agreed, according to the budget law, to hand over the Iqam 250,000 barrels of oil to SOMO after auditing the region's expenditures and imports, and it was agreed to hand over the center to the region 320 billion dinars per month until the audit is done, except It was reduced to 200 billion dinars for no reason, noting that “the issue of negotiating with the federal government over the oil file, took a lot from the life of the current government of the region.
” However, the federal government sent during the current year only three payments, such as (200) billion dinars per month.”
He stressed, "the need for coordination between the two governments, as any break in the relationship will affect the two parties with many issues," explaining that "the Kurdistan Ministry of Natural Resources operates according to Iraqi law, and that lawsuits continue between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the oil file."
Adel pointed out that "the Kurdistan Regional Government is continuing to negotiate with the Center on the oil file, and the legal procedures in the court expect a settlement in its favour."
Adel stated that "the Kurdistan Regional Government has a contract with Turkey for a period of 50 years to transport oil only through the Turkish Ceyhan and not to sell it," explaining that "the Kurdistan Regional Government is now working to establish two oil companies: the first in the name of (Kroc) Company, which is specialized in oil exploration, and (Kurdish) company ( Como), which specializes in the export and marketing of oil.
He stated that "this is the last paper presented to Baghdad regarding the oil file."
Production and selling prices of the region’s oil, Adel stated that “the region produces 400 to 420,000 barrels of oil per day, most of which is exported, and 25,000 barrels remain for local consumption,” explaining that “this quantity is sent to the (KAR) refinery to produce about one million liters of gasoline and the rest of other derivatives.” .
And he indicated that "the price of a barrel of oil in the region is different from the price of a barrel of oil in the federal government because of the cost of extracting oil in Kurdistan is 3 times greater than the cost of extracting it in the rest of Iraq because of the terrain and oil specifications.
" Which calculates other expenses in the process of extracting oil,” explaining that “all numbers and reports regarding production and export operations are announced every three months to public opinion, and we plan to announce them monthly, which will include the number of extracted and exported barrels, selling prices and their cost.”
The OPEC Plus agreement added, "The regional government has committed to the OPEC Plus agreement in larger quantities than is required."
petrol smuggling
Adel answered the question of the reporter of the Iraqi News Agency (INA), about smuggling 7 million liters of gasoline per day from the governorates of central and southern Iraq to the region, that "there is no smuggling, and there is coordination between the two governments to stop smuggling and cooperate in all areas legally."
Gasoline prices in the region, and he added, "The Kurdistan Regional Government has agreed with Baghdad to send 1.5 million liters of gasoline per day, but this quantity has not been fully reached, and the transmission has stopped since the first of May until now," explaining that "Baghdad sent this quantity only twice during During that period, at a price of 650 dinars per liter to be paid in cash, with the calculation of transportation fees of 20 dinars per liter, and 20 dinars for the wages of petrol stations, bringing the price of its sale to the citizen in the provinces of the region to 690 dinars. 123 . views Added 06/17/2022 - 11:25 AM Update 06/17/2022 - 5:12 PM https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=28515
Minister Of Finance: There Is No Share For The Kurdistan Region In The Next General Budget, Except After Its Agreement With The Ministry Of Oil
Finance Minister Ali Abdul Amir Allawi Money and business The Iraqi Finance Minister, Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi, said that the Federal Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the oil and gas law in the Kurdistan region prevents the central government from allocating a portion of the upcoming general budget as a share for the Kurdistan Region .
In answering a question in this regard in an interview with the (Iraq Oil Report) website in Baghdad, Allawi stated that the previous budgets included paragraphs allocating 12% of expenditures to the Kurdistan Region, on the condition that Erbil sends the equivalent of oil revenues exported from the region’s fields, but in fact This agreement was not implemented, and was replaced by temporary agreements between Baghdad and Erbil, according to which Kurdistan received semi-regular monthly transfers worth 200 billion Iraqi dinars ($138 million), but these transfers will not continue .
Allawi said: My job is to implement the law, not to break the law. In the 2021 budget, there was a clear condition that the Kurdistan Regional Government must either hand over oil exports to SOMO or hand over the equivalent of money, which did not happen, so transfers to the Kurdistan Regional Government as dues from the general budget are no longer valid .
This time, if SOMO informs us that it did not have a legal basis, and that the Ministry of Oil did not find a legal structure to cover its ownership of that oil, then for us it basically means that this oil was seized and produced (illegally) and exported by the Kurdistan Regional Government (in a legal form). illegal) according to the interpretation of the Federal Court, which we consider at the federal level the highest legal authority .
He added, when we sent the money in the past, we were discussing this agreement on the basis that the oil belongs to the Kurdistan Regional Government and they have the right to extract it, whether we agreed or not with the oil contracts and the partnership contracts for extractive companies in Kurdistan, but this issue was not raised previously .
Now, the issue of ownership of the oil fields in the region has arisen, so if we transfer their entitlements to the budget - whatever their ratio - the other side of the equation will not be addressed at all, and in fact there is no other side to the equation, in the past there was an explicit recognition that this is oil The Kurdistan Regional Government, but now they do not have the right to act, and according to the decision of the Federal Court - although the Kurdistan Region will not accept this talk - now this oil belongs to us .
Views 31 Added 06/17/2022 - 5:04 PM Update 06/17/2022 - 5:11 PM
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=28518
To read more current and reliable Iraqi news please visit BondLady’s Corner: