KTFA:

YoungSC:  As Frank stated on Fridays YouTube Iraq is article 8 and we will see the REER posted soon based on Iraq's meeting with Saudi Arabia. Having the open market and opening their country for investment  

MilitiaMan:  What it looks like is there was a notice given on the 19th. Then, moving along from that, banks are closed and a holiday ensues for five days to mark Eid Al-Fitr a time of giving. The mask of Covd-19 is in play.. Nothing like a plan-demic to hide what is in plain site. Very well orchestrated on many fronts. The one front that will usher our win, is what we await on now. imo. No turning back once one jumps from the deck! That is were they are, in the air imo.. lol MM

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Samson:  Iraq requests the postponement or cancellation of Kuwaiti debts amid Saudi-UAE terms

25th May 2020
An American newspaper reported today, Monday, that the Iraqi government began resorting to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to resolve the economic crisis after the drop in oil prices, noting conditions imposed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia regarding the relationship with Iran.  

The Wall Street Journal said that under the pressure of low oil prices and the economic crisis resulting from the outbreak of the Corona epidemic, it seems that Iraq has sought refuge with its Arab neighbors to solve this crisis, so it sought to reduce the debt burden prescribed to Kuwait, and moved to strengthen relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Finance Minister Ali Allawi, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil of the Agency, said that he suggested that Kuwait postpone or cancel about 3 billion dollars due to Iraq over compensation for the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

Iraq had stopped making payments in 2014 during the war against ISIS who controlled a third of the country but resumed in 2018, and now, 3% of oil export revenues go to Kuwait, which is also suffering from low oil prices.

Allawi said: "This will help the flow of liquidity significantly, in addition to other measures that would help stabilize the situation."

And Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi began last Friday, a Gulf tour, in an effort to secure amounts that the country avoids paying the salaries of millions of employees in the wake of the collapse of crude oil prices. Allawi met the Saudi finance, energy and foreign ministers in Riyadh, and appealed to them "for urgent financial support to Iraq so that the government can fulfill its promises to its employees," and he also met with a number of officials in Kuwait and the UAE.

Iraq may have avoided a major outbreak of the coronavirus, recording only 150 deaths, but it faces an economic crisis as the epidemic increases the demand for oil, whose revenues account for 90% of the state’s budget.

Allawi pointed out that Iraq is seeking to revive the proposed Saudi investments in the sectors of electricity, communications and agriculture, and to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles to commercial projects, adding that while Baghdad did not request budget support in the short term from Riyadh, it might do so within three or four months. He explained: "We are now under severe financial pressure, and this generates a review of some of the original options that we have taken or that have been imposed on us because of the circumstances over the past 17 years."

For its part, the official Kuwaiti News Agency reported that Allawi delivered a message from Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi on supporting bilateral relations, while the Saudi Ministry of Finance stated on Twitter that discussions between the two sides focused on trade and investment.

According to the newspaper, the kingdom and the Emirates called on Iraq to end Iran, which has increased its influence over Iraqi politics since 2003. Allawi stressed that the shift in regional relations will not be a turning point or come at the expense of other allies, but it is likely to be accompanied by political amendments. He said: "It does not open a whole new chapter, but it is hoped that different pages will be opened in this chapter."

The Iraqi Finance Ministry also denied borrowing $ 3 billion from Saudi Arabia during the visit of its Minister Ali Allawi to Riyadh, noting that if the proposed Saudi projects are completed, its capital may reach this number or more.   LINK

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Samson:  Efforts to recover Saddam Hussein's money seized by the finance .. and to reveal a document in his handwriting to pay 35 billion dollars!

25th May 2020

Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Faisal Al-Issawi, confirmed on Sunday that the funds of the former regime Saddam Hussein are seized and frozen in foreign banks do not exceed one billion dollars and there are serious moves to recover them. Al-Issawi said, "There are cases filed with international courts in order to lift the seizure of Iraqi money abroad and recover it.

He added that "the amounts are not large and they do not reach one billion dollars in all cases, but there are also real estate reservations, if the problem was solved it would be sold and benefit from the amounts. And that there are clear mechanisms to follow up on this file, by the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing its part with the recovery department, to recover that money.

Pointing out that "the matter may be delayed, but really there are serious negotiations with the state in which the money is being seized to solve the problem." He pointed out that "Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi has experience in this file, given that the intelligence department is one of the active departments in this matter, it can be used in addition to his good relations to recover the money."

A document revealed the handwriting of former President Saddam Hussein stating that Iraq had loaned to some non-Arab African countries and showed a letter dating back to one thousand nine hundred and eighty five and that is Saddam Hussein's handwriting.

Addressed and addressed to the Ministry of Finance, it is requested to form a committee to review the recovery of Iraq's debts owed by non-Arab African countries, and the committee shall be composed of the ministries of finance and oil and the central bank. And this message spread after the Iraqi government tried to borrow from some Arab countries, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Where reports and members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee said that the Minister of Finance asked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to lend Iraq three billion dollars to cover the budget shortfall. He will also go to Kuwait to ask for borrowing and support as well.   LINK

Samson:  Al-Kazemi receives an invitation to visit Moscow .. Putin is looking for huge investments

25th May 2020   

 Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi received on Monday an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Moscow, while the latter expressed his country's aspiration to double Russian investment in Iraq

This came in a telephone conversation between the two sides, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi government

The statement stated that Putin and Al-Kazemi discussed "strengthening relations and conditions in the region, low oil prices and effects, the OPEC agreement, the Corona pandemic, and the security situation in Iraq and Syria

The statement quoted the Russian President as his country's aspiration "to develop bilateral relations between Russia and Iraq and their importance in all fields, economic, commercial, and energy, and to increase the volume of investments to more than they are now, as well as in the field of electric energy

Al-Kazimi stressed, "The government's interest in strengthening cooperation with Russia, inviting Russian companies to come to Iraq and   invest in all fields, and working to overcome difficulties before these companies because of their positive repercussions on Iraq and in the relations between the two countries

According to the statement, Putin extended an invitation to Al-Kazemi to visit Moscow, and Al-Kazemi also sent a similar invitation to Putin to visit Baghdad  LINK

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Don961:  Negative interest rates What is their purpose and what does it mean to you?

- One Day Has Passed

The Governor of the Bank of England confirmed this week that the bank is considering making its main interest rate negative for the first time in its history of 326 years, and it is far from inevitable, and many analysts still believe it is unlikely. But what is the purpose of it? What would the negative rates of financial condition mean for ordinary people if applied?

What did the governor say?

Andrew Bayley, during a hearing before the House of Commons Finance Committee last Wednesday, said negative rates were under "active review" by the central bank. "We look very carefully at the experience of central banks that used negative rates," he added.

What is the goal?

The basic logic behind making interest rates negative on the one hand, and behind the reduction in rates in natural times on the other hand is the same, and is to encourage the borrowing and spending of families and companies in various economic sectors.

If a reduction in rates from four percent to two percent stimulates the economy, it should do a reduction from zero percent to a negative two percent the same. There is a clear problem with the step in the current circumstances, because most people and institutions are still not able to actually spend as they do, due to the current closure.
However, some argue that negative rates will be beneficial later this year when the UK eases and the spread of monetary stimulus across the economy becomes possible.

Will the move succeed?

The Danish central bank made its interest rate negative in 2012, followed by the European Central Bank two years later and the Bank of Japan in 2016. The overall economic results in the eurozone and Japan were not surprising, although supporters of the move said performance would have been poor without them.

Research indicates that negative rates are counterproductive, as they harm the profitability of private commercial banks (such as "Lloyds", "Royal Bank of Scotland" and "Barclays"), and push them to reduce credit rather than expand it.

In recent years the Bank of England has always rejected proposals to make rates negative, claiming that it harms the profitability of private banks and building societies, but it is fair to say that economic evidence is a point of contention among economic professionals.

What will ordinary savers feel?

Negative rates mean that a fee will be levied on bank deposits with the central bank (rather than paying interest on them) in order to encourage banks to lend these funds to the wider economy. In theory, commercial banks can transfer some of the costs of these negative rates to the ordinary depositors, which means that people will not get interest on their savings, but rather pay a fee, and this is what happened to the big depositors at JSC Bank in Denmark.

However, most of the evidence from Europe and Japan indicates that commercial banks are not doing this, perhaps for fear that their clients may withdraw their money from them, and instead keep them in their homes in cash in safes or under the mattress.

Some economists already indicate that negative rates will not be fully effective until the abolition of material cash and ending the option of people withdrawing from the banking system.

What about borrowers?

Because negative reference rates are prevalent in private banks, these banks have the power to decide about their delivery to borrowers and how they can be delivered if this actually happens. This means that you are unlikely to give a discount on the current mortgages of borrowers.

JSC last year had already revealed a ten-year plan for negative interest rates on mortgages, but the fees it imposed resulted in people not actually getting any money for borrowing.

However, negative rates will encourage banks to make more mortgages for people compared to positive rates. It can also lower the interest rate charged on any new credit advanced.

Bin Chu

Independent Arabic   link