KTFA Members "News and Views" Monday 12-19-2022
KTFA:
ToyVP: IT IS A VERY LONG STORY WHICH ACTUALLY STARTED IN 1990 (I WILL DO A QUICK DIGEST VERSION,) WHERE THE CURRENCY WAS VALUED AT $3.2169 TO 1 IQD, WHEN SADDAM HUSIEN INVADED KUWAIT AND THE UN TOOK ACTION OF SANCTIONING IRAQ AND DEVALUING THE IQD
THEN THE US STEPPED IN AND BEAT SADDAM HUSSIEN OUT OF KUWAIT, THEN THROUGH THE YEARS SADDAM DID NOT DO WHAT HE WAS TOLD TO DO AND STARTED DEVELOPING WMD (I KNOW I KNOW LEAVE IT AT THAT)
IN 2003 WE WENT IN TO REMOVE HIS REGIME AND REMOVED ALL THE SADDAM CURRENCY, CONTRACTED DE LA RUE TO REPLACE IT AND SET THE EXCHANGE RATE AT A MARSHAL PLAN PROGRAM RATE OF APPROXIMATELY 3000 IQD TO $1 AND USING 3 000 NOTES TO KEEP THE INFLATION DOWN WHILE THE MARSHAL PLAN WAS IMPLIMENTED..........
What was the Marshall Plan simple definition?
It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe.
AND SINCE THEN HAS BEEN ALTERED TO DO THE SAME FOR OTHER WAR TORN ECONOMIES.
NEED LESS TO SAY A PROGRAM RATE IS CONTROLLED BY THE IMF/UN/UST/WB AND IS NOT ALLOWED TO FLOAT WITH THE ECOMIC GROWTH OF GDP, AND THE COUNTRY IS NOT ALLOWED TO HANDLE THEIR FINANCES UN SUPERVISED UNTIL ALL SANCTIONS HAVE BEEN MET
I HOPE THIS HELPS.
WHERE AS VIET NAM IS A FULLY FUNCTIONING ECONOMY IN CONTROL OF THEIR OWN CENTRAL BANK AND FINANCES WITH NO SANCTIONS AND, THEY CHOOSE TO KEEP THEIR CURRENCY LOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY OFF THE CHEAP LABOR
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Billuke: Thank you TOY - I believe that will help some understand.
Allow me to add...imo...when all sanctions are lifted and the "program" part of the program rate is lifted, there have been different speculations & beliefs where the rate of the IQD will start. Some believe at 1 to 1, some at various rates higher or lower, and some believe it will start at whatever the rate is at the time (1460 or 1190) and go from there.
And there are various beliefs that the IQD starting 1190 or 1460 - won't help Iraq. How will their economy grow at those low currency rates?
My whole thing is when I hear people say "toilet paper rate" how is that toilet paper rate going to help Iraq, who is going to invest in Iraq with a currency at a toilet paper rate?
Well, as pointed out several times over several years - companies and countries have been doing business and investing in Vietnam and South Korea with their low rates for how long now?
that's all ..... just IMO
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Clare: An upcoming parliamentary meeting to discuss the emergency rise in the exchange rate
12/19/2022
Parliamentary circles said that the coming days will witness a meeting in Parliament to discuss the crisis of the emergency rise in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, expressing the hope that it will return to its official rates soon.
Representative Muhammad Qutayba said, in a statement followed by (Al-Mada), that "an upcoming parliamentary session will be held to discuss the rise in the exchange rates of the dollar."
Qutayba continued, "Parliament is following the rise in the exchange rate of the dollar in the Iraqi markets with great concern because of the pressure it causes on the prices of basic materials, especially foodstuffs, which constitutes an additional burden on the shoulders of millions of poor, simple and displaced people."
He pointed out, "The rise in the exchange rate of the dollar in a few days is still ambiguous, and we did not receive any government indication that would reveal the reasons." And Qutiba stated, “The session that is being prepared will witness the hosting of those concerned with the financial file to find out the reasons behind the recent rise in exchange rates and what are the solutions on offer.”
And he stressed, "The need for there to be control over the high fever to prevent the worsening of the economic conditions in the country, especially since any rise will push the segments below the poverty line."
For his part, the other representative, Thaer Makhaif, stated that “the rise in the exchange rates of the dollar, we expect it to be temporary, and due to external influences far from everyone’s will.”
He added, "Speculations and countries that interfere in the country's economic policy have a stake in the issue of Iraq's economies, as is the case in their interference in political affairs."
And he feared that "prices will return to decline and stability during the coming period, especially after the recent government measures to increase the shares of banks."
On a related note, Representative Baqir Kazem said, "The rise in the exchange rate these days will not last more than a month, after the new measures that are being implemented by the Central Bank."
Kazem added, "The latter will work to sell the dollar to merchants in the circle of new credits, at subsidized prices, directly."
He pointed out, "The reason for the increase is that many merchants transfer millions of dollars to money exchangers and fake companies working to smuggle it out of Iraq," stressing that "the exchange rate after the new procedures will settle at 146 thousand Iraqi dinars compared to 100 dollars."
Observers had confirmed that the reason for the rise in the dollar was the measures taken by the US Federal Bank against a number of Iraqi banks participating in the auction of selling the currency, which led to its exclusion, and a deficit in demand. %. LINK
Henig: The Preparatory forum for the "Iraq International Oil and Gas" exhibition and conference will start tomorrow in Baghdad
Baghdad / NINA / - The activities of the preparatory forum for the "Eighth International Iraq Oil, Gas and Energy" exhibition and conference will start tomorrow morning, Monday, in the capital, Baghdad,, in the official presence of the Council of Ministers, the House of Representatives, representatives of diplomatic missions and cadres of the sector, to highlight the promising opportunities in the field of oil in Iraq and the role of the private sector in developing Iraqi oil resources.
The preparatory forum, which will continue for Monday and Tuesday, comes as part of the preparations for the largest event in the field of oil, gas and energy, which will be held in Basra Governorate for the period 16-19 March 2023, in cooperation with the Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee, and with the support of the Ministry of Oil, the National Investment Commission, and the Ministries of Transportation, Electricity, and Environment, in addition to the Media and Communications Authority, the Iraqi Economic Council, and the organizing company, Pyramids International. LINK
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Henig: Iraq and India discuss the development of bilateral relations and joint cooperation
Baghdad / NINA/- Head of the Asia and Australia Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dr. Hisham Al-Alawi, received Prashant Bisai, the Indian ambassador to Iraq, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Al-Alawi indicated during the meeting, according to a statement by the Ministry, that the Ministry is interested in following up bilateral files between Iraq and India, and supporting the work of the Indian Embassy in Iraq and cooperating with it to develop bilateral relations between the two countries, stressing the Iraqi government's endeavor to expand its partnerships with the countries of the Asian continent.
During the meeting, they also discussed future steps to strengthen bilateral relations between Iraq and India, and ways to increase coordination between the two sides to overcome difficulties and expand bilateral cooperation in all fields.
For his part, the Indian Ambassador affirmed his country's keenness to push relations with Iraq forward, stressing the Embassy's readiness to follow up the implementation of what was agreed upon during the Ambassador's meeting with the Undersecretary of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Delhi on the sidelines of his visit to India to attend the International Conference on Combating the Financing of Terrorism last month. LINK