KTFA:

Clare:  Preferring a date for approving the budget law

6/03/2023

Today, Saturday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee suggested a date for approving the budget law, stressing that it will be approved before the legislative recess that begins on June 9.

A member of the committee, Saad al-Toobi, said, according to the official newspaper, that “the committee requested earlier to set a date for the session, because there is nothing to delay voting on the budget, as the committee needs hours only in order to make transfers that are almost ready and are just waiting for classification in the budget.” As well as some additives.

He explained that “the delay that is taking place now is only for the sake of the region’s articles that were duly voted on within the committee,” adding, “But it is possible that political consensuses will take place and the vote will be changed,” noting that “it is possible to change the voted materials because the voting took place in Within the committee, the budget was not voted on in its entirety, and this is one of the legal tricks.”

And he continued, “Parliament will enter its legislative recess on the ninth of June, so the budget will be approved effectively before this date,” and indicated that “it is possible that a date will be set for the next Sunday or Monday to vote on the budget in Parliament.”  LINK

Ryan1216:  I pray the budget passes this week

TSM:  Before this week, the coming days, soon.....pretty hard to do all of this when they just sit on their hands...HOW about NOW!!!!!!  Imo

Clare:  THAT MEANS TOMORROW OR MONDAY... COME ON IRAQ!    Imo

Zeeman: Excellent news. maybe the imf got to them or maybe they learned the word common sense or june 9 vacation time   or all of the above but in any case this is very good  imo

Gameofpatience:  Opinion:  Budget and remaining laws are waiting for the rate change and need about a week to complete. Isn't Iraq now generically stating "NEXT WEEK" (by June 9th).
Read carefully: "NEXT WEEK" starts TOMORROW.

GMan:  Nailed it. And let's not forget the other countries involved... It's about Iraq and it's not about Iraq. Again

Clare:  I PRAY THIS IS THE WEEK WE ALL CROSS OVER THE FINISH LINE TOGETHER!

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Clare:  International Monetary Fund: The Central Bank of Iraq has made progress in combating money laundering

6/3/2023  Baghdad

The International Monetary Fund praised the progress made by the Central Bank of Iraq in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

"The IMF mission welcomes the progress made by the Central Bank of Iraq in the field of improving cash management, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks," the fund said in a press statement, posted on its website and viewed by Al-Iqtisad News.

The fund confirmed that the mission stresses the importance of close coordination between the positions of monetary and public financial policies in managing the Iraqi economy. LINK

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Clare:  Within 24 hours... Iraq announces the killing of 10 ISIS members, as a result of air strikes

6/03/2023

The Security Media Cell announced, on Saturday, that 10 terrorists had been killed in three operations in which Suqur al-Jaw and the Counter-Terrorism Service participated, during the past 24 hours.

This came, based on the directives of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and under the supervision of the Joint Operations Command, according to a statement received by Shafaq News agency, as the security forces of all kinds continued to maintain pressure on the terrorist elements according to a well-articulated plan that caused them loss of life and destroyed their hideouts.

The cell stated, "The Air Hawks launched a successful air strike yesterday, Friday, in the Hamrin mountain range, killing four terrorists, and the Anti-Terrorism Service was able to kill three terrorists, while the Iraqi Air Force succeeded in launching another air strike complementing yesterday's efforts in Diyala sector - Hamrin Mountains, which resulted in the destruction of a number of dens and the killing of three terrorists.   LINK

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Clare:  By majority.. Parliamentary swings to pass the budget this week - Urgent

6/03/2023   Baghdad

Today, Saturday, the leader of the coordination framework, Fadel Mawat Al-Azrigawi, suggested a majority vote on the budget law during the current week.

Al-Azrigawi confirmed to (Baghdad Today) that "there is a political movement among the political forces in order to vote on the budget law during the current week, as there is a parliamentary and political majority that supports this approach."

The leader explained in the framework that "the Kurdistan Democratic Party does not have any real objections to the budget law, but rather it is trying to pressure in order to obtain more gains within the budget."

He pointed out that "the current political movement will enable everyone to obtain consensus to pass the budget before this week."

Earlier, a member of the Al-Fatah Alliance, Representative Salem Al-Anbuge, confirmed that the coordination framework is waiting for the Kurds' response to the Mandalawi meeting.

Al-Anbuge told (Baghdad Today) that "the coordination framework forces held an important meeting at the claim of the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, to discuss the 2023 budget file in light of recent developments."

He added, "The framework meeting came to avoid passing the budget by the political majority, and for a political agreement to be the solution by converging views."  LINK

Clare:  The New President Of The World Bank Takes Over

6/03/2023

Ajay Banga, the new president of the Indian-American International Bank, officially assumed his duties on Friday, succeeding David Malpas, who yesterday ended his term at the helm of this institution, according to close sources.

Banga was the only announced candidate, the former head of the payment systems group MasterCard, was elected without a surprise in early May.

If Ajay Banga is the second official of the World Bank not born in the United States after Jim Yong Kim, who was born in South Korea but grew up in Iowa, then he is the first who did not graduate from an American university after studying and starting his career in his native India.

This comes in the context of reforms to the institution, which announced last March an increase in its funding by five billion dollars annually over the next ten years.

The content of the reforms will be revealed during the next annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in October in Marrakesh (Morocco).

The Foundation is expected to demonstrate its ability to enhance its efforts to help fund the fight against global warming. Some countries, especially the least developed countries, fear that this will be done at the expense of combating poverty.

In a message addressed to all employees, Banga affirmed his desire to “create a world without poverty on a livable planet,” considering that “the realization of these aspirations requires that we develop, be creative, use our resources to the maximum extent, and establish new partnerships with civil society.”

The new official also paid tribute to his predecessor, David Malpass, a “fierce defender of the World Bank,” thanks to whom he “made great progress in our missions.”

For his part, the latter wrote in a post on his personal page on LinkedIn on Thursday, summarizing his achievements and recalling in particular “the World Bank’s rapid response to a series of global crises with the allocation of $440 billion.”

"During my tenure, the World Bank doubled its funding to address global warming in developing countries by a record $32 billion," he said.

David Malpass confirmed that his assumption of the presidency of the World Bank was “a great honor” and thanked “its staff and the board of directors for working together.”

Although he is highly regarded internally, particularly by the Foundation's staff, David Malpass has not succeeded in silencing critical voices abroad, particularly regarding his lack of interest in climate issues.

The topic came back to the fore last September when a New York Times journalist asked him during an event about it, and Malpass refused to admit that human activities are the main cause of global warming.

He later confirmed this on several occasions, but this hesitation contributed to the consolidation of his image as a skeptic of the climate fluctuations put forward by former US Vice President Al Gore. LINK