KTFA:

Iobey777:  Wow!! IMO..today and yesterday..EVERY article has seemed to spell INTERNATIONAL for Iraq!!! I believe we are really finally there!!!! I'm just sending praises to God and thanking Him for blessings flowing!!IMO..this weekend could be Very revealing!!!

GodLover:  I agree this weekend could be revealing....in fact, from now until October 1st will be revealing imo. I think we will learn a lot as far as where we really are in this investment in the next few days...………

*******************

Samson:  IMF calls on Zimbabwe to intensify reform efforts to end crisis

27th September, 2019

The IMF said that Zimbabwe needed to intensify efforts on the economic and political fronts, where the government faces a growing body of criticism about its commitment to reform

The African country is suffering from the effects of the drought, which has harmed crops and generating electricity, while high prices, shortages of foreign currency and fuel have provoked anger among citizens

"There is an urgent need for policy measures to address the root causes of economic instability and enable private sector-led growth," the IMF said in its reform program review released on Thursday

"The main challenge is to contain fiscal spending in line with non-inflationary financing, tighten monetary policy to stabilize the exchange rate and rebuild confidence in the national currency," the IMF said

The IMF said the risks of implementing the budget are high as demand for public sector wages increases, the central bank's quasi-fiscal activities that will need to be absorbed by the government and pressure to finance agriculture could push the deficit back into an unsustainable situation

There is also a need to strengthen foreign exchange market operations and improve transparency in monetary statistics, according to the IMF

Discussions between the IMF and Zimbabwe are expected to continue during the annual meetings on October 14-20

The International Monetary Fund said Zimbabwe's economy is expected to face a sharp contraction this year, while the annual inflation rate, which the government last published in June, hit around 300 percent in August

In June, Zimbabwe decided to reintroduce the abandoned Zimbabwean dollar in 2009 to counter hyperinflation

But with currency losses, Zimbabwe's central bank decided to raise its benchmark interest rate by 20 percent to 70 percent   LINK

Samson:  Vietnam : Industry 4.0 Summit 2019 to open in Hà Nội in October
26th September, 2019
Industry 4.0 Summit 2019 will contain is expected to have 2,500 participants attending seminar series on smart banking, smart city, smart production, smart energy and digital economy and visiting exhibition on digital economy

The Industry 4.0 Summit 2019 will take place in Hà Nội on October 2 and 3, gathering 2,500 Government leaders and representatives from embassies, international organisations, localities and businesses.

The summit, themed 'Digital Vietnam: Accelerating digital transformation toward sustainable development', will be held by Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission and several ministries and sectors. It will evaluate the implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution of Việt Nam and disseminate guidelines and policies of the Party and the State.

The organisers said there are more than 40 countries and territories, including developing countries, that have issued strategies and action programme relevant to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In Việt Nam, the Politburo has also worked to upgrade the digital capacities for a powerful 4.0 transformation.

The seminar series focuses on five main topics, namely smart banking, smart city, smart production, smart energy and digital economy.

At the forum, an exhibition will take place with 80 booths from domestic and foreign companies, showing technologies of four areas including finance-banking, production, energy and smart cities. It’s expected to help businesses learn and seek opportunities for co-operation and investment in Việt Nam.

Some 85 per cent of industrial enterprises in Việt Nam still lag behind the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and only 13 per cent are at beginner level, according to Nguyễn Đức Thành, director of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR).

 In a draft national digital transformation plan, Việt Nam targets emerging as one of the top four countries in ASEAN in terms of digitalisation by 2025 with 80,000 digital technology companies. LINK

*****************

Samson:  Abdul Mahdi agrees to open the existing port next Monday
28th September, 2019

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has agreed to open the Qaim border crossing next Monday, the Border Access Authority announced Friday.

"Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi agreed to open the outlet of the Qaim border with Syria next Monday, 30 September," Alaeddin Al-Qaisi , director of the commission's relations, told Alsumaria News.

 An informed source confirmed that "the opening of the port will be in front of goods and passengers."

 It is noteworthy that the re-opening of the border post postponed several times because of the lack of rehabilitation.   LINK

**********************

Samson:  Al-Attar praises Al-Rasheed Bank's decision to replace the card with Nakheel MasterCard

28th September, 2019
CEO of Zesco Group of Companies haj Ghadeer al-Attar, on Saturday, praised the financial steps followed by Al-Rasheed Bank.

Al-Attar said in a statement, received / Mawazine News / copy of it, that "Rashid Bank was and remains committed to monetary policy in Iraq and keep abreast of developments around the work of that policy." He added, "The decision of Al-Rasheed Bank to replace the K-Card with its Nakheel MasterCard is a step that will lead to keeping the data of citizens salaries within the bank and in order to ensure more transparency in the monetary policy of Al-Rasheed Bank."

This is based on the decision of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and the instructions of the Central Bank of Iraq and the letter of the National Retirement Authority, which includes the need to replace the card of the Bank of Rasheed Bank Palm MasterCard of the Bank by reviewing the nearest branch or center special issuance and replacement of the above cards and according to the centers below.  LINK

Salamon69:  Thanks Samson....   This article seems really important as the citizens replace the ki cards that from my understanding are only used in Iraq to getting the Mastercard.

IMO   Once the rate exchange changes I would think that initially most transactions within Iraq will be done with the Mastercard....

Don961:  Iraqi Bank wins STP Operations Excellence Award

23:35 Friday, September 27 2019

Iraqi Trade Bank won the award «Excellence in payment and automatic transfers STP from the bank« JP Morgan Chase », to join the new award for a series of achievements achieved by the bank during the year as one of the best banks in Iraq.

The award was received by the bank's chairman and chairman Faisal Al-Hims during a recent ceremony in Beirut from Ali Mora, head of banking at JPMorgan Chase for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The award is the culmination of the Bank's efforts in investing and developing basic infrastructure and in organizing its national network to provide the latest banking systems and services to customers.

In addition to the success of the bank to expand its branch and ATMs, and improve its banking capabilities by extending working hours and providing facilities for night deposits. Al-Hims said:

link  

S41755k:  OK, i might be way off the thought process…..Any one who follows the world financial market knows the whole system is on a cliff ready to fall off.

In saying that any additional burden would only taxed the system, such as Iraq banking system merging to the international world.

We all know the county is loaded with cash (assets) that would indeed overextend the system once it connects (present). In order for the banking system to remain complaint with regulator they must have a certain amount of cash on hand for overnight movement of funds.

Now imagine Iraq Banks joins the group. Would you not need more funds in the system?. This is all IMO Blessing

*********************

Samson:  Because of the scarcity of the dollar .. Lebanese pound at the lowest level in 30 years

28th September, 2019
The exchange rate of the dollar at the exchange companies in Lebanon rose to about 1600 pounds for the first time in nearly 30 years compared to the official rate of 1507 pounds.

The tightening of the dollar has led to a strike by fuel importers, which has resulted in fuel shortages, and calls for the owners of gas stations to resolve the crisis of financing the purchase of fuel. The central bank announced that it will issue a circular next week to regulate the financing of importing wheat, fuel and medicines.

A few days ago, owners of mills in Lebanon warned that the country could face a supply crisis if the dollars needed to import cereals were not provided at the official price and said wheat stocks had fallen to a "dangerous" level.  Lebanon's economy is suffering from a slowdown in capital flows from abroad, which have long been used to finance the government's budget and current account deficits. Foreign reserves, excluding gold, have fallen 15% over the past 16 months to about $ 39 billion.   LINK