KTFA:

MilitiaMan:  The next Parliament sessions this next week look to be packed with importance. The likely hood that the Kurds are not on board with Sadr, is imo minimal.

The Oil and Gas Law is on the table. The Kurds suggesting they have made ground sounds very hopeful as they call it a priority. The Emergency Food and Security Law is slated for a second reading come Wednesday and in that week following for a vote.

With having an agreement politically to remove the blockage and that the financial side of things are completed, as noted by the recent Mission Accomplished between the CBI and the World Bank

 The good report from the IMF, the Global Taxation agreements with 137 countries per the UST, the Iraq border automation for payments and settlements at the ports, borders customs, etc., the AYSCUDA system and the BUNA platforms all ready to go for cross border clearing of currency, thus, we can combine all that with an new exchange rate and the citizens will get what they are waiting for, the HCL.

Their share of the wealth and rightfully so they should!!  imo

MilitiaMan Cont…..It is time weather permitting.. lol  Funny how they call for airports to close for Dust Storms, yet, googling the weather stations for Monday call for cooler temps and mild wind only.. Not dust storms.

However, there are articles that suggest there will be dust storms. I'll lean on the weather stations.. imo. 

Aside from that, the 1/12th payments to run the country has not been implemented, thus, this next few days on the EFL and 2022 budget both being about finance are key.. Lets see what they do.. ~ MM

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Parliamentary Energy: This session will be exceptional

22/05/2022

The Parliamentary Oil and Energy Committee confirmed today, Sunday, that the current session will be exceptional in terms of approving laws.

Committee member Suhaila Al-Sultani said in an exclusive interview with "Mawazine News", "There is a parliamentary determination that this session be exceptional and provide a lot of work, stressing that the oil and gas law will be a priority."

She added, "There is great cooperation between the Arab and Kurdish representatives in this aspect, and the understanding that the interest of Iraq is first and the public interest of the people is more important than private and partisan interests."   LINK  

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President of the Region: We have reached a ground to solve the political blockage and there are no problems that cannot be addressed

2022-05-22

The President of Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani said on Sunday that a ground had been reached to resolve the political impasse in the region and all of Iraq, announcing the success in stopping the media war between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

President Barzani said in his speech on the occasion of the graduation of the sixteenth batch of graduates of the Third Military College - Kallagolan, that "we are still in contact with the parties in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to address the political blockage."

He added, "We succeeded in stopping the media war between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union, as we reached a ground for resolving the political blockage," adding that "there are no problems that cannot be resolved, but there are many obstacles that appear from time to time." LINK

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Parliamentary Finance sets the date for the second reading of the proposed food security law

22/05/2022

The Parliamentary Finance Committee set, on Sunday, the date for the second reading of the proposal for the emergency support law for food security and development, before voting on it, and while it indicated the most prominent sectors that the law will support, it revealed the inclusion of allocations for governorate projects that are the highest of their kind and sums to improve services in the center and south .

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed al-Jubouri, said in a television interview, which was followed by "Mawazine News", that "the House of Representatives will begin next Wednesday the second reading of the proposed emergency support law for food security and development, and it is likely to vote on it in the week following the completion of the second reading."

He added, "The committee will work in the coming days to set specific numbers for the exchange doors in the law, the most important sectors that will be guaranteed in the law and indispensable, the ration card file, and support the agricultural sector by paying farmers' dues and marketing wheat as well as the electricity file and supporting the poor classes."

Al-Jubouri stressed that "in the event that the law is legislated, the provinces will receive funds for projects, and the initial version of emergency support has been allocated from 9-10 trillion dinars for this section, and this volume of support occurs for the first time in the history of the Iraqi state, and is the largest of its kind in budgets."
He continued that "

And about the government's position on the legislation of the proposed law, al-Jubouri stressed that "the government agreed in principle to pass it, and officials will be hosted whenever there is a need for that."

Regarding the size of the total amount of the emergency support law, he explained that “the total amount was initially set at (30) trillion dinars, and the discussion is continuing about the possibility of reducing it to 25 trillion,” noting that “the statement of the Parliamentary Finance Committee Chairman Hassan al-Kaabi to add 500 billion dinars within the law to the Municipality of Baghdad is accurate.”

Because the emergency support has been allocated 9 trillion to the governorates, and Baghdad is the largest governorate in terms of population, and the total volume allocated to it will be one trillion and 200 million dinars, and the money will go to developing the capital’s neighborhoods.

Al-Jubouri pointed out that Last Thursday, the House of Representatives completed the first reading of the proposed emergency support law for food security and development.    LINK

Clare:  A new dust storm closes the doors of Iraq.. Monday is an official holiday...

The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announced today, Sunday, the suspension of official working hours in state institutions tomorrow due to bad weather conditions.

And she said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, that the Prime Minister directed to suspend official working hours in official institutions, tomorrow, Monday, with the exception of health, security and service departments, due to bad weather conditions, and the entry of a wave of severe dust storms to separate areas of Iraq.

The Ministry of Education had announced, earlier, the postponement of exams for sixth grade students and unfinished classes for tomorrow, Monday, May 23, 2022, until the next day and with the same announced schedule, due to expectations of a dust storm.  LINK

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Clare:  Increasing the capital of the central bank enhances its balanced monetary policy 

05/22/22    Samir Al-Nusairi

The Central Bank of Iraq announced the decision of its board of directors to increase its capital to 5 trillion dinars, an increase of 40% over its previous capital of 3 trillion dinars. 2 trillion dinars.

 From a specialized point of view, we see that this increase embodies the sobriety of the Central Bank and the solidity of its assets and will lead to the following:

1- Following safe investment policies, which will raise the financial position of the Central Bank and enhance its credit position internationally and restore confidence in the Iraqi economy and its banking relations with international banks and financial institutions.

2‐ Benefiting from the rise in global oil prices, reaching more than $100 per barrel, and building foreign cash reserves to cover imports and the local currency in circulation, and to maintain monetary and financial stability.

3- The continuation of the Central Bank’s intervention in supporting the national economy and stimulating and revitalizing the economic cycle in conditions of challenges and crises, and this now requires the government to invest the abundance available to it during the first quarter of 2022, which exceeded 11 trillion dinars and is expected to reach more than 45 trillion dinars at the end of 2022 And the equivalent of (30-35) billion dollars to pay off the internal debt, which amounts to about 46 trillion dinars, for the account of the Central Bank only.

 4- Confronting the effects of reducing the exchange rate of the dinar and strengthening and activating the central financing and lending procedures and initiatives, which exceeded 15 trillion dinars during the years 2016-2022.

And that all of these measures led to an improvement in the government’s financial position and a reduction in the actual deficit rates in the 2021 budget and the plan for 2022, which achieved the central bank’s goal as far as its tasks and objectives contained in its Law 56 of 2004, in particular preserving its independence and what was mentioned in the reform objectives of the banking sector in the white paper .

All of this has clearly contributed to supporting the national economy and will give it flexibility and sufficient space to face the challenges that the economy suffers from for subjective and objective reasons.

Thus, the Central Bank, with its distinguished national team and its wise management, will be able to achieve its main tasks and objectives and is now proceeding strongly, effectively and with rational steps to achieve the objectives of strengthening the economy and banks for sustainable development and economic stability.

* Advisor to the Association of Iraqi Private Banks    LINK