KTFA Members "News and Views" Wednesday Afternoon 6-9-2021

KTFA:

Politician: Corruption whales made money by buying real estate and played with the citizen's strength by raising the price of the dollar

19:35 - 06/08/2021

Political analyst Haitham Al-Khazali confirmed, on Tuesday, that the rise in the price of the dollar was offset by two phenomena, the first of which is the rise in real estate prices, and the second is the increase in central bank sales of dollars, which were the fruits of whales of corruption.

Al-Khazali said in a statement to “Information” that “the rise in the price of the dollar was offset by two phenomena. Raising the price of the dollar is to prevent currency smuggling and preserve reserves.”

He added that "the process of the dollar's rise is a political process, not an economic one, and there are whales who are benefiting from the rise of the dollar." He pointed out that "Iraq imports everything in dollars, and reducing it will be in the interest of the country, not the other way around."

It is worth noting that the dollar exchange rate in the market has reached 150 thousand per note, and experts have confirmed that there is a possibility for the price of one note to reach 155 thousand dinars.

LINK

Kurdistan government: We are close to implementing the budget agreement with Baghdad  LINK

Iobey777:  Yeah?? well JUST DO IT already!! IMO, you have been told to get it Finished!! The world is watching and waiting! 

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Samson:  Parliamentary Integrity announces the recovery of more than $ 20 million from Iraq's frozen funds

9th June, 2021

The Parliamentary Integrity Committee announced, on Wednesday, the return of more than 20 million dollars of funds frozen outside Iraq since 2003, while revealing the total size of those funds

Committee Rapporteur Abdel Amir Al-Mayahi said, "The Parliamentary Integrity Committee is following up the file of the return of smuggled funds directly with the Recovery Department of the Integrity Commission," noting that "more than 20 million dollars of frozen funds outside Iraq have been returned to banks of Arab and European countries a year ago." 2003", according to "Conscious

He added, "The funds frozen abroad exceed one billion and 417 million dollars, as the process of returning them requires serious government work," noting that "returning those funds does not require effort but rather seriousness by the government, and this is the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by making understandings with those countries." To determine the mechanism for the return of funds

Yesterday, Tuesday, Minister of Justice Salar Abdul Sattar announced that the UN Security Council had issued a resolution to release the seized Iraqi funds

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed its escalation of steps to return the frozen funds from various countries

The ministry's spokesman, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, said that "the ministry is pursuing the frozen funds in various countries, as we succeeded in recovering more than 25 million dollars that were in Germany and handed over to the competent Iraqi national authorities," stressing that "our steps in this direction are escalating and growing  LINK

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Samson:  Brent crude reaches $ 72.59.. The rise in oil prices in global markets

9th June, 2021

Oil prices recorded, on Wednesday, a rise for the second session, due to indications of strong demand for fuel in Western economies, while the prospects for the return of Iranian supplies faded, as the US Secretary of State said that sanctions imposed on Tehran are unlikely to be lifted.

Brent crude futures rose 37 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $72.59 a barrel at 0520 GMT, and earlier rose to $72.83, the highest level since May 20, 2019. Brent rose 1 percent on Tuesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped 39 cents, or 0.5%, to $70.44 a barrel after rising to $70.62, the highest since Oct. 17, 2018. WTI prices rose 1.2% on Tuesday. “It appears that the improved demand outlook is boosting crude oil prices, as the successful vaccine launch and summer driving season in the US and Europe continue to support fuel demand,” said Margaret Yang, a strategist at Singapore-based DailyFX.

Recent traffic data indicates travelers are hitting roads as restrictions ease, ANZ Research analysts said in a note, pointing to TomTom data that showed traffic congestion in 15 European cities reached its highest levels since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The US Energy Information Administration on Tuesday expected fuel consumption growth this year in the United States, the world's largest oil user, to reach 1.49 million barrels per day, up from a previous forecast of 1.39 million barrels per day.

In another positive sign, industry data showed that US crude oil inventories fell last week, in line with analyst expectations, according to a Reuters poll. Two market sources, quoting the data, said that the American Petroleum Institute reported that crude stocks fell by 2.1 million barrels in the week ending June 4. Stock data from the US Energy Information Administration is scheduled to be released on Wednesday at 1430 GMT.  LINK

Samson:  Vietnam : Moody's raises HDBank's credit rating outlook from stable to positive

5th June, 2021

Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the B1 long-term local and foreign currency deposit and issuer ratings for the Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank).

It has also changed the outlook on the long-term deposit and issuer ratings of HDBank to positive from stable.

The positive outlook on the ratings of the bank reflects Moody's view that improvements in asset quality over recent years, which could translate into lower credit costs and higher profitability, could raise the banks' baseline credit assessments over the next 12 - 18 months. Moody's expects profitability to improve over the next 12-18 months because of higher yields from loans to individuals and small and medium enterprises, and improvements in asset quality, and capital to remain stable because internal capital generation will support asset growth.

Amid the difficulties caused due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which made Moody's lowering the credit ratings of some organisations, HDBank's credit rating was unchanged throughout 2020, underlining its capacity to adapt to new situations to sustain growth and keep implementing its development strategy even in difficult times. This was once again reflected in its results in the first quarter of 2021 when its consolidated pre-tax profit topped VNĐ2.1 trillion (US$91.1 million), a 68 per cent rise from the same period in 2020.

Its standalone pre-tax profit was over VNĐ1.8 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 88 per cent. Its return on equity and return on assets were 26.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent. Its capital adequacy ratio (based on Basel II standards) was over 12 per cent, and asset quality and liquidity remained at high levels. The ratio of short-term funds the bank used for medium- and long-term loans was 23.4 per cent against a maximum of 40 per cent allowed by the State Bank of Vietnam. Cost management continued to improve, with its cost-to-income ratio falling to 39.1 per cent from 51 per cent a year earlier.

As it contributes to supporting the economy and walks hand in hand with customers under challenging circumstances, besides ensuring safe and stable business operation, HDBank has also spent tens of billions of đồng on community support activities and set aside large sums for preferential credit programmes to help customers overcome the difficulties caused by COVID-19.

Previously, based on positive assessments of Việt Nam's economic growth and its effective control of the epidemic in 2020, and its positive outlook for growth, Moody’s retained the Government’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings at Ba3 and upgraded the outlook to positive from negative.

Việt Nam is the only country in the world for which all three major western credit rating agencies (S&P and Fitch being the others) changed their ratings outlook to positive.    LINK

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