KTFA:

Don961:  Disclosure of the time limit to reduce the price of the dollar

10 hours ago   News source / NRTV

 Financial expert Mahmoud Dagher announced, on Wednesday, that it was not possible to make a new adjustment in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar after only 3 months, just because of the high oil prices, stressing that everyone knows about the fluctuation of the oil market and its failure to stop at a certain level.

Dagher said in a special statement to NRT Arabia, today (10 March 2021), that "the adjustment of the currency rate is exclusively the specialty of the Central Bank of Iraq, and no party, whether legislative, executive, or judicial, has the right to interfere with it in any way."

He added, "The purpose of those claims is to exploit them to obtain electoral votes through statements that affect the street, but they are not issued by a competent authority that realizes the seriousness of the issue and does not know its repercussions on the Iraqi economy."

He explained, “The first change, which is a historic decision, as it was not possible to take such steps for years, and it was inaccurate and without planning and came after a great deal of pressure on the Central Bank of Iraq. The oil market is fluctuating and does not stop at a certain level, and in the event of a new decline in oil prices, what steps can representatives be taken by the representatives demanding to adjust the price?

He described these steps as "ill-considered and would lose confidence in the Iraqi dinar and make it difficult to determine the relationship between wholesalers and retailers because the commercial and investment relations are based on the future, ie the future deal."

Dagher pointed out that "instead of demanding an adjustment of the currency rate, it is better to float it, as happened in Egypt and Sudan, and this also would leave negative effects on people's lives as a result of losing confidence in the Iraqi dinar."

He continued, "The government can take advantage of the global increase in oil prices by repaying the loans it withdrew and reducing Iraq's debt, as the value of external loans reached 27 billion dollars and 62 trillion internal ones."

And he expressed his hope "not to borrow in the manner mentioned in the federal budget for 2021, which the government has presented, as these loans would burden the country and economically shackle it in the future."

With regard to talking about bank reserves, Dagher said, "The position of bank treasury is excellent, contrary to what is rumored about it that it is bad, especially in light of the high oil prices, as revenues have increased and we approached $ 55 billion, which is a suitable reserve to manage the affairs of the country."

More than 130 deputies in Parliament had submitted a request to the Finance Committee to make the exchange rate of the dollar 1,300dinars, against the backdrop of high oil prices in global markets. LINK

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

Samson:  MP: Al-Kazemi and Allawi are exerting political pressure on the management of the Central Bank

12:08 - 11/03/2021

On Thursday, a member of the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, Layal Al-Bayati, held two sides responsible for changing the exchange rate of the dollar, while the Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi, was accused of harassing Iraqi citizens with limited income.

Al-Bayati said in a statement to / the information /, that “Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi and Minister of Finance Ali Allawi are the ones who bear the consequences of the high exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar,” indicating that “the prime minister and the Minister of Finance have exerted political pressure on the current Central Bank management by raising the dollar exchange.“

She added, "The Ministry of Finance bears full responsibility before the House of Representatives," stressing that "with the rise in crude oil prices and growing oil revenues, Minister of Finance Ali Allawi is still insisting on raising the price of the dollar and restricting Iraqi citizens, especially those with limited income, with completely rejected justifications."

Earlier, the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee revealed the intervention of the US Embassy in Baghdad to change the exchange rate of the dollar, which sparked a wave of popular discontent and affected the poor classes.   LINK

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

Samson:  Dollar exchange rates affect the lives of citizens

20:13 - 10/03/2021 Books / Dr. Basil Abbas Khudair

The Minister of Finance says that changing the exchange rate of the dinar by making it 1450 dinars per dollar instead of 1190 dinars did not affect people's livelihood and their purchasing power, and we present a model for the effect, as the volume of soft drinks changed from 250 ml before the change to 185 ml, i.e. a decrease of 26%.

The situation applies to all the goods and services that are marketed in the local markets, from the loaf of bread to the real estate, so how do you say that the change did not affect the citizens and that it is just a shock that everyone will receive and it will pass in peace and the citizens will get used to it little by little, and whether the Minister knows or not, the capabilities.

The purchasing power of nearly two million retirees has shifted from 500 thousand dinars to 400 thousand dinars, and the standards of living for the entire population have been affected by 40-50% and the most affected by that are the limited and no-income who make up the majority of the population and who are increasingly affected and impoverished by unjust decisions imposing partial and total prohibitions without Compensation, and we remind those who have a conscience that oil prices are which finances the federal budget has shifted from 40 dollars a barrel to 70 dollars, which is the people's money.

Is it fair for the people to get poorer despite the high oil prices and to whom the differences go and most of the population live in excesses, randomness, and rent ?, And these questions need urgent changes and accountability for the offender and not watching over the suffering of the people, the International Monetary Fund and others are not covered by the fire of poverty, and they are not focused on the people's livelihood because Parliament and the government are supposed to be the owners of solutions and decisions.  LINK

Financial crisis hits Kuwait .. Bond issuance temporary solutions

10th March, 2021

The Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Investment in Kuwait, Khalifa Hamadeh, revealed today, Wednesday, a crisis and major financial problems facing the country.

Hamadeh said, according to the Kuwait News Agency "KUNA", that "the relative and temporary increase in oil revenues does not cover budget obligations and does not postpone or reduce the determination to pay for draft laws that aim to provide liquidity in the state treasury (the General Reserve Fund)."

 He added, “The issuance of bonds and other solutions are not reform solutions, but rather temporary measures that must be taken to fulfill the immediate obligations represented by salaries and subsidies, which constitute more than 71 percent of the total expenditures in the fiscal year (2021/2022) budget.”

He explained, "The break-even price in the 2021/2022 budget is $ 90," explaining that, "by the end of the fiscal year, total oil revenues must reflect the rate of $ 90 per barrel of crude oil per day in the fiscal year until the budget deficit becomes zero." And between, "the rise in oil prices in the past two weeks only does not cover the state's obligations, even if it continues at its current level throughout the next fiscal year that begins on the first of next April."

Hamadeh emphasized, “It is the right of the people of Kuwait to feel reassurance about the state’s obligations to them, and it is obligated to provide them with this reassurance and enable everyone to be able to financially plan by providing sufficient liquidity in the state’s treasury in a sustainable manner, not day by day or month by month.”

He stressed, “The need to address the scarcity of financial resources and the lack of liquidity in the treasury (the general reserve fund) as soon as possible, with the need to be accompanied by radical economic and financial reforms that contribute to reducing expenditures and increasing non-oil revenues.”

He expressed his “confidence in the cooperation of the National Assembly to overcome the obstacle and support the coming reforms,” adding: “We will spare no effort in strengthening this cooperation and extending its bridges by building a real and effective partnership between the two authorities and joining and integrating efforts to reach the desired goal.”  LINK

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

Samson:  Russia is gradually moving to overcome its economy’s peg to the US dollar

11th March, 2021

Russia is moving forward on the right path to extract its economy from the effects of dependency on the US dollar, through a set of measures that it applies gradually.

Russia will break the economic link with the US dollar by expanding the use of local currencies to settle payments resulting from trade with many countries.

For example, 74% of payments resulting from commercial exchanges with the EEU countries are settled in local currencies, according to the President of the Russian Parliament (Duma), Vyacheslav Volodin (the EEU includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan).

Russia gets rid of the dependency effects on the US economy as well by reducing the share of the US dollar in its foreign exchange reserves. For example, the share of the US dollar and the European euro in the National Welfare Fund decreased from 45% to 35%.

The President of the Russian (Federal) Senate, Valentina Matviyenko, stressed in her speech to the media the need to reduce the dependence of the Russian economy on the US currency, confirming the decrease in the share of the US currency in Russia’s foreign exchange and gold reserves.

For his part, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Ryabkov, in his speech to "Bloomberg" stressed the need to get out of the economic dependence on the source of the ongoing hostilities. LINK