KTFA Members "News and Views" Monday Afternoon 5-23-2022
KTFA:
Clare: Efforts for a “legal justification” granting Al-Kazemi’s government the authority to send the budget to Parliament
2022-05-23
Parliamentary sources revealed, on Sunday, that there are efforts to find a legal justification to give the caretaker prime minister an official authorization to send the draft federal budget law for the year 2022, for the purpose of passing it by the House of Representatives.
Experts in Iraqi law confirm that authorizing the caretaker Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, to send the draft budget, requires an absolute majority vote of the members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, i.e. (half of the total number + one) to enable the latter to perform this procedure exclusively.
And the Federal Court (the highest judicial authority in Iraq), had canceled last week, the draft law on emergency support for food security and development, sent by the Al-Kazemi government, and it was scheduled to be voted on by the House of Representatives during a regular session, based on a lawsuit filed by Representative Basem Khashan. .
In a clarification following the cancellation of the Food Security Law, the Federal Court noted the inability of the caretaker government to send bills to Parliament, and that such a procedure requires the presence of a government with full powers, which raised fears of disrupting the current year's draft budget.
The political blockage and the intransigence of the parties controlling the scene with their demands was the formation of the government, which contributed to the disruption of a number of bills that have direct contact with the citizen, including the General Budget Law, which was expected to include setting a financial ceiling for job grades long awaited by unemployed graduates. .
Regarding the above, a parliamentary source told Shafak News Agency, "The information obtained confirms that the caretaker government may refer the budget law for the current year to the Parliament for passage, if it obtains an official parliamentary mandate that enables it to refer the bill to Parliament."
The source added, "All the data indicate the interaction of most parliamentary forces with that, to ensure the passage of all projects of interest to the citizen," noting that "passing the emergency food security support law does not contradict the budget law, given that the first aims to accelerate the disbursement of financial allocations to the authorities." concerned with food and medicine and the energy profile (electricity and fuel)."
For his part, the legal expert, Ali Al-Tamimi, suggested the possibility of parliament authorizing the government to "administer daily affairs" the right to send the general budget law, because it is related to food security, which is one of the first priorities of the caretaker government.
Al-Tamimi explained, to Shafaq News Agency, that "this mandate needs a vote of the absolute majority of the number of members (half +1), and that this right is limited only to the budget law exclusively, and the mandate must include the approval of the final accounts of the previous year's budget in accordance with the Financial Management and Debt Law Year No. 6 of 2019, all in accordance with Articles 62, 5 and 61 of the Constitution and 12 and 13 of the Financial Management and Public Debt Law No. 6 of 2019 and Articles 128 to 138 of the Parliament’s bylaws. LINK
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Clare: Parliamentary Finance for / NINA /: The government agreed in principle on the proposed food security law
Baghdad / NINA / - The Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that the second reading of the food security and development proposal will take place in the parliament session scheduled for next Wednesday.
He explained, "In the coming days, we will proceed to set allocations with specific numbers for each of the sectors concerned with the food security file." LINK
Godlover: Here is a better idea.......pass the 2022 budget immediately & there will not be the need for this "filler" food security law.
Billuke: SHAZAAM !!!!!
MW: THAT we can Agree on!!!
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Clare: The storm closes the Baghdad Stock Exchange, and the dollar prices drop in Kurdistan
2022-05-23
The main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, closed its doors on Monday, due to the dust storm that swept Iraq, while the dollar prices fell in Kurdistan Region.
Shafak News Agency correspondent said that the central Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges in Baghdad closed their doors today, due to the dust storm, in addition to the authorities' announcement that the official working hours would be suspended.
He explained that buying and selling prices have stabilized in banking shops in the local markets in Baghdad, some of which have opened their doors, as the selling price amounted to 148,500 Iraqi dinars per 100 US dollars, while the purchase prices amounted to 147,500 dinars per 100 dollars.
In Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, dollar prices witnessed a decrease, as the selling price reached 148,200 dinars per $100, and the purchase price was 148,000 dinars per $100. LINK
Clare: After Iraq, the dust storm hits Kuwait, stops flights and postpones a final match
2022-05-23
On Monday, Kuwait was hit by a severe dust storm, which caused the suspension of flights and the postponement of the Amir Cup final match.
The Kuwaiti meteorologist said, "A severe dust storm has reached the country, with active to strong northwest winds that may exceed 60 kilometers per hour."
And it expected that "the dust storm will lead to a decrease in horizontal visibility to less than 500 meters, and it may be absent in some areas, and its intensity will continue until mid-evening today, with sea waves rising to more than 7 feet."
She added, "The gradual improvement in the weather condition begins at the beginning of the day tomorrow, Tuesday, with moderate northwesterly winds and an opportunity for light suspended dust in some areas."
And civil aviation in Kuwait announced the temporary suspension of navigation due to the dust storm.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior also called for caution due to the wave of dust and low visibility.
The dust and bad weather caused the postponement of the final match of the Amir Cup in Kuwait between Salmiya and Kazma, which was scheduled today at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, to tomorrow, as decided by the Kuwait Football Association.
Today, Monday, dawn of a wave of heavy dust swept Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, according to meteorological sources, and the impact of the wave will continue until midnight on Monday.
The Iraqi government had announced the suspension of official working hours in state institutions for today, Monday, due to bad weather, and the exams for sixth-grade primary students and unfinished classes, scheduled for Monday, were postponed until the following day (Tuesday).
The Iraqi Ministry of Transport also announced the closure of all the country's airports, starting at dawn today, Monday, due to the country's exposure to a severe dust storm, before announcing the resumption of flights later. LINK
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Clare: The International Monetary Fund rules out a global economic recession
05/23/2022
The International Monetary Fund ruled out the possibility of a global recession, despite the worsening financial conditions and the slowdown in China's economy.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday that the financial crisis, the dollar's rise and the slowdown in China's economy are all factors affecting the global economy, but the IMF does not expect a global recession.
"All these factors make rating downgrades a possibility, and for some countries there is an increased risk of recession, but we do not expect a global recession," Georgieva said in a televised interview.
"As policymakers and business owners head to Davos, the global economy is likely to face its biggest test since World War II," the Managing Director of the IMF wrote in a blog shared with IMF officials.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world's political and economic elites are returning to personally attend the World Economic Forum as attention is focused on the repercussions of the war in Ukraine.
International Monetary Fund officials stressed the "growing risk of geo-economic fragmentation," stressing in turn the benefits of globalization.
In their blog, IMF officials noted the change in the flow of capital, goods and services over the past three decades, driven by the spread of modern technology, adding: "These forces of integration have boosted living standards and productivity, tripled the size of the global economy and lifted 1.3 billion people out of extreme poverty." .
However, this progress is threatened today by the war in Ukraine and the accompanying sanctions and restrictions, as restrictions were imposed on the trade of food, energy and other raw materials in about 30 countries, according to the fund.
Reducing trade barriers would help ease supply shortages and lower prices for food and other products.
The International Monetary Fund advised countries and companies to diversify their imports to ensure the flow of supplies and "take advantage of the benefits of global integration of companies." LINK