KTFA:

Suzie:  I wonder IF they still plan to announce "the new rate" by the end of the fiscal year as was talked imo about seeing as there is basically 48 hrs. left.  Let's hope!

The Snod:   imo January is as hot as it’s ever been for this! Get’cha a big movie Coke, kick back and pray for the best.

Ryan1216:  I'm in constant prayer that the IMF updates the Dinar exchange rate by New Year like they said

YoungSC: Remember to also respect the first 2 weeks of January imo as we were taught imo

DeepWoodz:  Imo....  not butting in here but.... I’m looking for the party in the streets! What a time that will be!!!

Samson:  The economic crisis and Corona abduct Iraqis' joy in the new year

30th December, 2020
Usually, the last days of each year witness a wide and intense economic movement throughout the cities of Iraq in preparation for Christmas and New Year, but the situation is different with the new year, there are many reasons that make Iraqis less enthusiastic, but more lukewarm in their usual practices to receive 2021.

The lens of Shafaq News Agency wandered to Shorja in Baghdad, the largest and most important commercial center in the country, but the alleys of this center seemed almost empty except for those who were sold here and another there, which was not witnessed by Shorja in the most severe days of the economic siege in the nineties of the last century.

This apathy on the part of the Iraqis comes against the background of the economic crisis afflicting the country, along with the Corona epidemic that disrupted life for several months in the first half of this year, along with political and armed tensions.   LINK

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Samson:  The year 2021 begins with an important US decision regarding its forces in Iraq

30th December, 2020

The American military newspaper "Military Times" said that the global war on terror will witness a significant reduction on January 15, when the number of forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan reaches only 2,500 soldiers, nearly two decades after the wars The two countries. 

Although it has not achieved a breakthrough with regard to Iraq, the Donald Trump administration has previously said that it hopes to remove the last American soldiers from Afghanistan by May, according to a report by the newspaper translated by Shafaq News.

Ultimately, that will be the decision of the new US president, Joe Biden, who pledged during his election campaign in 2020 to "end the endless wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East." 

In a statement on November 17, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said he hoped Washington would end the long war in the new year and that American soldiers would return home. 

"We will protect our children from the heavy burden of the ongoing war, honor the sacrifices they have made in the service of peace and stability in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world, and we celebrate all those who helped us secure freedom in the face of oppression," Miller said. 

The Military Times said Miller, who replaced the dismissed Defense Minister Mark Esper on November 9, will oversee the process of reducing the number of troops until he leaves office on January 20. 

Pending congressional approval, he will be replaced by retired General Lloyd Austin, who oversaw the withdrawal of combat forces from Iraq in 2011.  Although military officials initially refused to comment on the details of the troop reduction, US lawmakers indicated that the plan requires reducing the number of forces that participate in "training, advice and assistance" missions for local forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to focus on counterterrorism operations, especially Against ISIS loyalists, in both countries.   LINK

Don961:  “Exchange the dollar against the dinar”: The Iraqis will force the “Central Bank” to submit two proposals: either 135 or 127 thousand per 100 dollars

2020-12-30  Yes Iraq - Baghdad

 As soon as the devaluation of the dinar against the foreign currency, especially the US dollar, came into effect until the people's appetite for buying those currencies decreased, which created alarm for the Central Bank of Iraq, which is responsible for issuing the decision that aroused popular discontent, because of the consequences it may have on the middle class and low-income people in the society.

The Central Bank of Iraq had decided to raise the price of selling the dollar to banks and exchange companies to 1460 dinars, from 1182 dinars to the dollar, in order to compensate for the decline in oil revenues caused by the deterioration of oil prices.

Iraq relies on 90% of its income on oil revenues, and the last time it devalued the dinar was in December 2015 when it raised the selling price of the dollar to 1182 dinars, compared to 1166 dinars in the past.

For the third consecutive day of this week, central bank sales are down by more than 55%.

Review the exchange rate

According to leaks from the Ministry of Finance, "The decline of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar and the increase of the exchange rate from 119 thousand to 146 thousand dinars per 100 dollars caused a rapid decrease in the value of sales of the Central Bank in the auction of selling foreign currency."

The leaks confirm that "the central bank is upset, and in light of this several proposals have been submitted to determine the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, including that it should be 135 thousand per 100 dollars instead of the current price."

The central bank inaugurated its decision on the new pricing for selling the dollar in the auction for the currency on the 20th of this December, and since then, the bank has witnessed a decline in currency sales.

The dollar’s ​​selling fell to unprecedented levels

For his part, economic expert Abdul Rahman Al-Sheikhly confirms the existence of a proposal setting the exchange rate against the Iraqi dinar.

Al-Sheikhly says that "there is a proposal and an opinion that the exchange rate be 127 thousand dinars per 100 dollars, provided that the citizen reaches 130 thousand dinars."

He points out that "the central bank used to sell 200 million dollars in the currency auction, either now the cash sale price has reached 300 thousand dollars, because of the increase in the exchange rate from 119 to 146 thousand dinars per 100 dollars."

Al-Sheikhly continues, saying that "the Iraqis do not have any confidence in the banking institution, so they put their money in their homes, and when the dollar crisis became they went to sales outlets and sold dollars, so the demand for the dollar became little compared to the previous period."

Parliament enters the line

The Economic and Investment Committee discloses a parliamentary approach aimed at reducing the dollar exchange rate in the 2021 budget bill, which reached Parliament.

Committee member Nada Shaker Jawdat says, "The proposal submitted by MPs from a different political bloc should be the new exchange rate (1300) dinars per dollar.

She explains that "reducing or increasing the dollar exchange rate needs political consensus under the dome of the Iraqi parliament, and there will be intensive meetings and dialogues in this regard during the next few days, as the parliamentary majority refuses to raise the dollar exchange rate with this big difference from the previous one."

Iraq is under great pressure under the weight of the worst economic crisis it has witnessed since 2003 until now due to the low oil prices and the outbreak of the Corona virus.

In this regard, the economist Dr. Raed Al-Hashemi says, “The process of devaluation is an internationally known economic procedure and means that a country reduces the official exchange rate of the country's currency against a reference to a global currency such as (the US dollar or the euro) so that the number of foreign currency units decreases. That can be obtained in exchange for one unit of the national currency, and it is also known as a deliberate downward adjustment of the official exchange rate, leading to a decrease in its value against other currencies.

He added, "The balance of our payments, as is well known, has no exports other than oil, and the rest tends toward imports because we import everything from abroad, from the needle to the plane to stop the wheel of industry and national production in all government and private sectors since 2003, and as a result, this decision will not It fixes the balance of payments and will not revive the domestic product. ”

link

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Don961:  A calculation that reveals "dangerous information" about how much the employee will lose from his salary

2020-12-30  Yes Iraq: Baghdad

 The economic expert, Manar Al-Obeidi, revealed the size of the employee's salary due to deductions, new taxes, and a reduction in the value of the dinar against the dollar.

 Al-Obaidi stated that “considering that the average salary in Iraq is 948 thousand dinars, according to the salary schedule and the number of employees, a salary of one million dinars will be adopted as a measure of the impact of the employee’s salary.”

He added that "a million dinars previously was equal to 813 dollars according to the market price, based on the adoption of the exchange rate of 1230 dinars, and after the changes an amount of 50 thousand is deducted as an additional tax."

And that "the salary is equal to the market price in dollars, 646 dollars, based on the adoption of the exchange rate of 1470 dinars, meaning that the value of the salary decreased by 167 dollars, which is 20.1% of the previous salary."

And he continued: "Accordingly, a fifth of the salary has been deducted from the employee's salary, in other words, it can be clarified that ten salaries will be distributed during the year instead of 12 salaries."  link

DeepWoodz:  Imo...still havin fun...with all this talk about salaries being tampered with, we all know this is a leak.

I say that because with a positive rate change, salaries will definitely need a huge reduction. 

I read somewhere the average salary was around 600,000 dinars, which calculates to around $500 U. S. 

After rate change, that will amount to only 100 dinars. I think they should double it to 200 for inflation!! Get it?

($1 = 0.20 IQD)
(1IQD = $5)

PS...Stating the obvious here....HIGHLY DOUBTFUL that they reduce salaries....and PURCHASING POWER.