KTFA Members "Saturday News" 10-10-2020

KTFA:

Samson:  Fearing China's supremacy ... global central banks unite to launch a digital currency

10th October, 2020

On Friday, a group of 7 major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, set out to define what a digital currency would likely look like, to help catch up with a pioneering role for China and outpace private projects such as the stablecoin of Facebook's Libra.

Central banks and the Bank for International Settlements said the key features should include durability, availability, at low or no cost, appropriate standards, clear legislative framework, and an appropriate role for the private sector.

The growth in non-cash payments since the lockdown measures were imposed to combat the Corona pandemic, said John Cunliffe, deputy governor of the Bank of England and head of the Payments Committee at the Bank for International Settlements, is accelerating how technology can transform forms of money.

Central banks have begun closely examining digital currencies, after Facebook last year announced its Libra currency, which has yet to be launched, and will be backed by a mix of major currencies and government debt.

Since then, the entity behind Libra has modified its plans, and is currently hoping to launch several "stable currencies" backed by single currencies. Cunliffe added that central banks need to keep pace to avoid the private sector closing payment gaps in inappropriate ways.

In addition to the Federal Reserve (the US Central Bank) and the Bank of England, the seven banks that have allied with the Bank for International Settlements include: the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of Japan.

China is already testing a digital yuan, while the People's Bank of China says it will further spread the yuan in a currency world dominated by the dollar.

 On Thursday, Kenji Okamura, the top Japanese diplomat involved in financial affairs, said that China is seeking to gain the leading advantage in building its own digital currency, warning that "this is something we should be afraid of."LINK

Don961:  Finance Minister: We will present the white paper for reform to the cabinet next Tuesday

 10/10/2020 12:48:03 PM  

Baghdad / Al-Masalla: The Minister of Finance, Ali Abdul Amir Allawi, revealed, on Saturday, October 10, 2020, the date for submitting the reform paper to the Council of Ministers and its contents.

Allawi said in a statement followed by the obelisk: "We will present the white paper for economic reform to the cabinet next Tuesday."  

He added, "The paper includes a diagnosis of the origin of economic problems and treatments that will be difficult, but there is no alternative to them." 

"We have a problem in providing salaries for the remaining months of the year without voting on the borrowing law," Allawi said, pointing out, "We will deal with increasing the interest rate on bank loans by reducing it."  LINK

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Samson:  A member of the Democrat: The Sinjar Agreement is a gateway to implementing Article 140 and will extend to other cities

09/10/2020 23:51:40

 A member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Subhi Al-Mandalawi, revealed that the agreement of the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding Sinjar district will extend to other cities that fall within Article 140 of the constitution.

Al-Mandalawi told Al-Furat News, "The agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, in cooperation with the United Nations on Sinjar, we can consider it a historic and very important agreement, and it came as a result of meetings, dialogues and agreements to restore stability to this city, which has suffered from the sway of ISIS and after its liberation from ISIS." It was a theater and a burning area because of the PKK."

He added, "There is a clear signal (in the agreement) not to accept the presence of any local or foreign forces, and therefore the agreement will certainly be implemented and its results will be on the ground, and what matters to us as the regional government is that the agreement will be on the city and will extend to other cities, within Article 140 and the return of the Kurds and the Peshmerga in Khanaqin and Mandali.

These are the results of discussions that have taken place and are taking place and will be a gateway to implementing the constitutional article." "With regard to the Labor Party, we reject its presence in Sinjar and other regions as it poses a threat to attack villages, and Iraq and the region will be subject to direct threat," Al-Mandalawi added, stressing that "this agreement will be a guarantee for the return of safety, and Sinjar is managed jointly between the federal government and the region on the security and service side."

The Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government announced this evening, Friday, a joint agreement on the normalization of conditions in the Sinjar district of Nineveh Governorate. The agreement includes, according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office, "restoring stability in the Sinjar district, many administrative, security and service points. The administrative aspect is agreed upon with the Kurdistan Regional Government and Nineveh Governorate, taking into consideration the demands of the people of the judiciary."

The statement added, "Everything that is security falls within the scope and powers of the federal government in coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the service side will be the responsibility of a joint committee between the federal government, the regional government and Nineveh Governorate."

In his comment on the agreement, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi affirmed, "The completion of the agreement on the administrative and security files in the Sinjar district, which would speed up and facilitate the return of the displaced to the judiciary." In its correct form, to ensure its success, in cooperation with the people of Sinjar first, he also stressed the government's keenness and seriousness for Sinjar to be free of armed groups, whether local or from outside the borders. While the mayor of Sinjar district in Nineveh province, Mahma Khalil, confirmed to the Euphrates News that the agreement includes removing the PKK forces from the judiciary.

As for the head of the regional government, Masrour Barzani, he said, "The agreement will be the beginning of the implementation of Article 140 of the constitution," he said.   LINK

Samson:  The United States congratulates the Iraqi government

9th October, 2020

The United States congratulates the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government on reaching an agreement of cooperation in Sinjar.

We look forward to its full implementation and hope this agreement will lead to lasting security and stability for the Iraqi people in northern Iraq.  LINK

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Samson:  Learn about the terms of the economic reform paper that the Ministry of Finance will release soon

10th October, 2020

Professor of Economics at Basra University, Nabil Al-Marsoumi, revealed some of the articles of the economic reform paper called the "White Paper", which the Finance Ministry is working on to reform the economy

Al-Marsoumi said, "As I expected in previous publications that the government reform paper will not deviate from the framework of the International Monetary Fund's policies and austerity measures with high social costs. This can be seen by looking at some of what was mentioned in the reform paper that the government called white, as follows

1- Reducing the wage and salary bill from 25% of GDP to 12.5% ​​within three years

2- Reforming the retirement fund so that it is not linked to the budget, and retirement salaries are paid directly from the fund

3- Reducing financial support for state-owned companies by 30% every year for a period of three years

4- Reducing total government support from 13% of GDP to 5% within three years

5- Restructuring the public salary scale by stopping new employment and replacement operations in the public sector

6- Setting a ceiling for employees’ salaries to achieve justice and reduce differences

7- Applying income tax to employee allowances, incentives, bonuses, etc

8- Reviewing fuel subsidies for state-owned oil companies, and the proceeds from the sale of black oil must be returned to the state treasury

9- Issuing national bonds and instruments and offering them for public circulation in the Iraq Stock Exchange

10- Studying the current exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar and taking into consideration the requirements of financial and monetary stability and achieving the competitiveness of the Iraqi economy

11- Restructuring the state-owned public companies and converting them into private companies

12- Correcting the defect in the ration card system to ensure the protection of people with limited income and withholding it from families whose income exceeds a certain ceiling

13- Ensure that all workers in the public, private, mixed and cooperative sectors are included in retirement benefits

14- Completing the Social Insurance Law in order to be a substitute for the unified retirement, retirement and social security laws for workers  LINK

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Samson:  Iraq maintains the 38th place among the countries most possessing gold

10th October, 2020

The World Gold Council announced, on Saturday, that the central banks of countries possess 35 thousand tons of gold, indicating that Iraq is ranked 38th among the countries that possess the most of these reserves

"The central banks of the 100 countries listed in the table possess more than 35 thousand tons of gold, with a value of about two trillion dollars," the council said in a report during the month of October

And she added that "Iraq still maintains the 38th rank," noting that "these reserves amounted to 96.3 tons, which is equivalent to 8.8% of the rest of the other currencies

He pointed out that "Iraq bought 23.9 tons of gold in 2012 and then bought 12.4 tons in 2013, and then bought 47.6 tons in 2014," noting that "the last purchase of gold for Iraq was in 2017. By 6.5 tons

 He pointed out that "the most central banks of the countries buying gold during the year 2020 were the share of Turkey, which bought 167 tons, followed by India by 33.3 tons, while the countries that sold gold the most during the current year were Uzbekistan, which sold 33 tons, followed by Sri Lanka, where it sold 12.9 tons

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