KTFA Members "News and Views" Saturday 6-6-2020

KTFA:

Clare:  FAMILY FRANK WANTS TO UPDATE US ON FF INFO AND IT IS VERY BIG AND HAS TO DO WITH DR. SHABIBI… FRANK WILL DO A YOUTUBE TONIGHT AROUND 7 PM EST

Ryan1216:  We have a complete fully seated GOI!!!

GodLover:  Game on! IMO!!!

Samson:  Parliament passes vacant bag candidates and succeeds in completing the Al-Kazemi government

6th June, 2020

On Saturday, the House of Representatives voted on the seven vacant portfolios in the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi.

The media department of the parliament said in a statement received to Shafaq News, "The House of Representatives voted on Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail, Minister of Oil, and Fuad Muhammad Hussein Bakki, Minister of Foreign Affairs."

She added, "The Council also voted on Salar Abdel-Sattar Mohamed Hussein, Minister of Justice, Alaa Ahmed Hassan Obaid, Minister of Trade, and Muhammad Karim Jasim Saleh, Minister of Agriculture."

Also, the House of Representatives voted on Ivan Faek Yaqoub Jaber, Minister of Immigration and Displacement, and Hassan Nazim Abdul Hammadi, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities.

The House of Representatives also voted to authorize the Prime Minister to create a state ministry to be its minister for the Turkmen component in order to encourage components and participate in state building.

In turn, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said that completing the cabinet is an additional motive for implementing the ministerial platform.

He added in a tweet to him on Twitter, that "completing the ministerial cabinet with the House of Representatives voting on the names we presented, is an additional motive to implement the ministerial curriculum, and to fulfill the obligations of the stage and abide by our promises before our people who are waiting for actions, not words."   LINK

4Cash:  Great find Samson looks like GOI is ready for some change  in MR. IMO… Now CBI push the button!!!

Jerry1971:  GREAT News Indeed all the things are being done at a brisk pace now even the GOI is complete ….only the budget needs to pass some time shortly imo

Briscom:  I recall about 3 month s ago, Mr. Frank posting this scenario:

1.  Prime Minister
2. Cabinet 
3. Rate

OR

1.  Prime Minister
2.  Cabinet 
3.  Rate/Budget (same time)

Surely now, we are getting closer by the second!    Blessings

JJimmyJJ:  I also remember Frank's famous couplet: 
"The budget needs the rate. The rate doesn't need the budget."
It seems like Iraq has a hot date to the prom that they want to be sure to be ready for.

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Samson:  Parliamentary law reveals the most prominent laws that will be legislated in Parliament

6/6/2020 13:30

The Parliamentary Legal Committee revealed the most important laws that will be discussed and passed by the parliament in the coming days.

Member of the Committee, MP Hussein Al-Oqabi said in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), today, Saturday: "The House of Representatives will discuss the laws referred during the coming days that relate to tackling the economic and financial crisis and getting out of it, as well as the laws that relate to filling the federal revenue deficit." "The second law that will be passed is the Federal Budget Bill of 2020."

He added that "the third stage of passing laws will include the Federal Court Law," noting that "the retirement law is contained within the House of Representatives and can be read, in addition to the election law and the distribution of electoral districts."

Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives finished the first reading of the draft domestic and foreign borrowing bill to finance the fiscal deficit for 2020. The council also voted on a resolution that obliges the Iraqi government to send the 2020 budget law this month.   LINK

JJimmyJJ:  Whoa. Iraq isn't messing around these days. I've never seen them act this way-- with urgency. 

Not only are they getting things done, but they are announcing their intentions to continue getting the last steps of the monetary reform done through resolutions. 

IMO, this is their version of "Baby, I know I've lied to you many times before,  but this time I really mean it-- so I got my promise notarized."

Samson:  International welcomes the passing of vacant ministries in the Al-Kazemi government

6th June, 2020

Jenin Hennes-Blackshart, the United Nations Special Representative in Iraq, today, Saturday, welcomed the passing of vacant ministries in the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi. 

"We welcome the passing of candidates from the remaining ministries in the government of Prime Minister Al-Kazemi," Blashart said in a tweet. 

She added, "The United Nations reaffirms its support for Iraq in facing the current health, economic, social, political and security challenges."  LINK

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Samson:  World Gold: Countries’ purchases are down for April and Iraq hasn’t been buying since 2018

6th June, 2020

The World Gold Council announced, on Saturday, the decrease in purchases by central banks of countries for the month of April last, between that Iraq has not bought gold since 2018

The Council said in a statistic published on its website during the month of June and viewed by "The Economy News", "The purchases of gold by the central banks of countries decreased for the month of April, as the banks bought only 31.6 tons of gold, which is 24% less than the month of March and 35% less. For the month of April 2019

He pointed out that "Turkey is the only country that bought large quantities of gold in April, as its gold reserves grew by 38.8 tons, which raised its gold reserves to 524 tons and ranks 12th in the world

He added, "Iraq has not purchased gold since 2018, by which it bought 6.5 tons to add it to its reserves of 96.3 tons." He explained that "Iraq still maintains its fifth position in the Arab world after each of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria and Libya, and ranked 38th globally out of 100. Countries included in the international financial statistics for the global reserves of gold

It is noteworthy that the World Gold Council, which is based in Britain, has extensive experience and deep knowledge of the factors that cause the market change and its members consist of the largest and most advanced gold mining companies in the world   LINK

Samson:  Trump orders the withdrawal of thousands of American soldiers from Germany

13:17 - 06/06/2020

US President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to withdraw thousands of American soldiers in Germany at the start of next September, according to the Wall Street Journal, which indicated that the move would significantly reduce the US military presence in Europe, and embody Also the growing differences between Washington and Berlin over military spending and some security files.

The Wall Street Journal stated that Trump's instructions to reduce the number of American soldiers present in Germany from 34,500 to 9,500 only, which means reducing the number of American soldiers stationed temporarily or permanently on German soil by 25 thousand in one go.

The newspaper added that the number of American soldiers in Germany could reach 52,000 while alternating teams or conducting military exercises and exercises.

The move, as the Wall Street Journal made clear, brought criticism of the US administration by former senior defense officials and lawmakers in Congress, as it would weaken the partnership with a strategic ally like Germany in exchange for strengthening the power of opponents of the United States of America.

The newspaper quoted US experts as believing that Russia may, moreover, welcome the apparent dispute between two key NATO countries, although Moscow has not publicly commented on this. LINK

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Samson:  World Bank: Countries Can Now Take Steps To Rebuild After The Fallout From Corona

6th June, 2020

The World Bank Group said that the Corona pandemic and economic closures deal a severe blow to the global economy, especially the poorest countries, noting that developing countries and the international community can now take steps to accelerate the pace of recovery after the worst of the health crisis and mitigate Long-term negative effects.

This came in analytical chapters published today from the World Economic Prospects report issued by the World Bank Group twice a year.

The report stresses that the application of short-term response measures to address the health emergency and the provision of basic public services must be accompanied by the adoption of comprehensive policies to promote long-term growth, including through improving governance systems and business environments, expanding investment in education and public health and improving the level of results achieved.

 To increase the resilience of economies in the future and their resilience to shocks, many countries will need systems that can build and sustain human and material capital during the recovery phase - using policies that reflect and even encourage the need to adopt new forms of jobs, businesses and governance systems after a pandemic recedes.

The publication of this analysis comes ahead of the release of the full report, which will include the Bank’s latest forecasts for the global economy, on June 8.

On this, World Bank Group President David Malpas said: “The scale and speed with which the Corona pandemic and economic closures have affected the poor around the world are unmatched in the modern era. Current estimates show that 60 million people could fall into extreme poverty in 2020. Those estimates could rise further, and the reopening of advanced economies would be the major determinant in this regard. ”

 "The choices that countries make today about policies - including increasing debt transparency to attract new investment, accelerating progress in digital connectivity, and a strong expansion of cash safety nets for the poor - will help reduce damage and build a stronger recovery." One of the most challenging development challenges in the post-pandemic recovery phase is financing and building productive infrastructure.

The severe pandemic recessions are likely to exacerbate the slowdown in economic growth and productivity for several decades, the two main sources of improved living standards and poverty reduction. Compounding the problem of inequality resulting from the slowdown in growth, the poor and the most-favored are among the hardest hit by the pandemic and the economic shutdown - including through infection, school closures, and declining remittance flows.

Public health protection measures have already underestimated the fragile global economy, causing severe recessions in developed economies, emerging market countries and developing countries alike. The analysis indicates that emerging market countries and developing economies suffer from weak health systems, those that rely heavily on world trade, tourism or remittances from abroad, and those that depend on primary commodity exports will be severely affected.

In the long term, the pandemic will leave permanent damage through many channels, including low investment, erosion of material and human capital due to the closure of business facilities, dropping out of school and job losses, withdrawal from global trade links, and supply chains. These impacts will weaken potential output - that is, the output that the economy can achieve at full employment and sufficient capacity - and labor productivity for a long time to come. Previous weaknesses, declining benefits for the demographic dividend, and structural imbalances will exacerbate severe depressions that accompany the pandemic.

“When the pandemic occurred, many emerging market and developing countries were already at risk because of their debt escalation to record levels and a steep decline in their growth rates,” said Sila Bazarbasioglu, World Bank Group Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions. Combined with structural imbalances, this situation will exacerbate the long-term damage of the severe depression accompanying the pandemic. Urgent measures are necessary to reduce the damage, rebuild the economy, and make growth more robust, solid and sustainable. ”

Policies to rebuild in the short and long term require strengthening health care services and developing well-targeted stimulus measures to help stimulate growth.

This includes efforts to preserve the private sector and provide funds directly to people, so that we can see a faster return to company incorporation rates after the pandemic has receded, and during the mitigation period of the pandemic, countries should focus on strengthening economic activity by providing targeted support to provide liquidity to families Corporations and continued basic government services. At the same time, policymakers should be vigilant and cautious to face the possibility of financial turmoil.

It is essential during the recovery period that countries calibrate the possibility of reducing public support, and the broader development challenges must be targeted. The analysis discusses the importance of permitting the allocation of new capital in an organized manner for the benefit of the productive sectors in the new structures that will emerge after the pandemic recedes. For this to succeed, countries must undertake reforms that allow capital and employment to be adjusted relatively quickly - accelerate dispute resolution, reduce regulatory and procedural barriers, and reform costly support systems, monopolies, and protected state-owned enterprises that have slowed the pace of development.

For many countries, the strength of their economies in the future will depend on their ability to build and maintain their human and material capital during the recovery phase. In a post-Corona world, policies that reflect and encourage new forms of jobs, business and governance systems will be essential. Promoting transparency in financial links and investment would also help to rebuild confidence and facilitate investment growth.

Restrictions on movement and movement, and the global recession, led to the largest one-month drop in oil prices in March.

The drop in oil prices, which was mostly due to weak demand, was followed by disputes between oil producers over the targeted production levels and a sharp increase in global oil stocks. The analysis also detailed the implications of the fall in oil prices for the global economy, especially for oil producers from emerging market economies and developing countries.

In the short term, restrictions on transportation and travel will remain, but low oil prices are unlikely to provide significant support to growth, but the damage the pandemic may have exacerbated by increasing financial distress for producers. Low oil prices are also likely to give little support, at best, to global activity at an early stage of recovery.

For his part, Ayhan Kossi, Director of the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank, said: “Emerging market economies and developing oil-exporting developing countries have entered the current crisis and their fiscal positions have weakened after they relied on their reserves to overcome the effects of the oil price drop in 2014-2016. In addition to the unprecedented public health crisis, these economies are now experiencing severe economic recessions with a sharp decline in their export earnings. Even if oil prices rise as global demand for oil recovers, the recent fall in oil prices is another reminder to oil exporting countries of the urgent need to continue reforms aimed at diversifying their economies.”

Low oil prices currently also provide an opportunity to review energy pricing policies, as oil importers from emerging and developing countries should eliminate expensive support programs and allocate their limited financial resources to higher priority expenditures that include improvements in public health and education programs.

The World Bank Group's response to the Corona Outbreak

The World Bank Group, one of the world's largest sources of financing and knowledge for developing countries, is implementing rapid and wide-ranging measures to help these countries strengthen their response to the pandemic. The Bank Group supports health care interventions, works to ensure the flow of supplies and vital equipment, and helps private sector organizations continue their work and maintain their employees. It will provide up to $ 160 billion in financial resources over fifteen months to help more than 100 countries protect the poorest and most caring groups, preserve the private sector, and promote economic recovery.

 This includes $ 50 billion in new resources from the International Development Association in the form of grants or very concessional terms.  LINK