KTFA:

Samson:  Tweet from Sec. Pompeo:    In Indonesia and Vietnam I had the opportunity to meet with the leaders of these nations and engage with important community organizations.

They are all playing an important role in supporting our goals and vision for a more peaceful and prosperous #IndoPacific. pic.twitter.com/Xnk5UnGjER

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 2, 2020

Samson:  Iraq is preparing to receive donor countries next week

3rd November, 2020

The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announced that the ninth of this month will witness the presence of donor countries to support and finance projects in the liberated areas, while the United Nations Development Program said that it “carried out hundreds of service and humanitarian projects in the liberated governorates, and are continuing to rehabilitate and implement projects in the liberated governorates.

He referred to “implementing 271 service and humanitarian projects in Salah al-Din governorate and rehabilitating 20,000 residential homes in Anbar Governorate.” The United Nations Development Program also announced the implementation of “1754 service projects in Nineveh Governorate.”  LINK

MilitiaMan:  Looks like they know something.. Monday next, donor countries are coming into support and finance projects.. Well wouldn't that mean they are coming in as an international IMF Article 8 compliant countries. Surely they are not going to show up and finance in the trillions of Dinars. As that is not an article 8 compliant rate now is it? lol nimo.. ~ MM

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Samson:  Parliamentary Finance : We will oblige the government to borrow internally after reducing the deficit in the public budget

3rd November, 2020

The Presidency of the House of Representatives decided to host the Minister of Finance and the directors of customs, taxes and national retirement agencies to discuss the reform white paper and the financial deficit, while the Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed the House of Representatives’s directive to oblige the government to borrow internally after reducing the loan amount required to finance the deficit in the general budget.

Cougar, to “Al-Zawraa”: “The House of Representatives will make a number of amendments to the draft law on financing the fiscal deficit“ borrowing ”sent from the government, the first of which is to reduce the amount required for the loan and to be an internal borrowing exclusively from the central bank and government banks.”

He added that “the Finance Committee is in the process of inquiries from government banks and the Board of Directors of the Central Bank about the possibility of borrowing and securing these sums or not. Indicating that "the committee discussed with the Minister of Finance the details of the government loan and the real exchange sections for the required numbers." 

On the other hand, the Parliamentary Services and Reconstruction Committee warned of a popular explosion as a result of the delay in salaries of employees, and said that their disbursement was mortgaged by borrowing evidence of the failure of the financial policy. The wrong financial practices followed, which caused a widening gap of mistrust between citizens on the one hand and those fighting the financial decision in the country on the other hand.” He added, “The country has some sources of revenue, which makes it ranks among the rich countries, but corruption and poor planning were the most important factors that led to The local economy becomes vulnerable to collapse at any moment.”  Noting that the mortgage payment of salaries of employees and retirees with borrowing indicates the failure of the financial policy of the country.    LINK

MilitiaMan:  Reducing the the loan amount required to finance the deficit. How do they do that? Well, it look like they need to adjust the required numbers in the "real exchange section".

Well right there they are talking a rate. A rate is a required number is it not? It sure is, imo.

If you owe 1 trillion Dinars and reduce that amount by taking 3 zeros off the exchange rate, it becomes Billions.. Therefore, it reduces the amount owed. 

Look who they are talking with too. The directors of customs, taxes and national retirement agencies. All very important entities.  They all of a stake in the process, whether it is collection and or payments.. All need the same thing. imo ~ MM

Samson:  The governor of the Central Bank visits exchange companies and promises to study their proposals

11/03/2020 13:47:32

Today, Tuesday morning, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mustafa Ghaleb Mukhaif, conducted a field visit that included a number of brokerage firms buying and selling foreign currencies on both Karkh and Rusafa sides in Baghdad.

A statement by the bank’s media, of which the Al Furat News Agency received a copy, stated that "the governor had a committee specialized in auditing companies from the banking supervision department at the central bank."

Mukhaif informed "the workflow of these companies and their dealings with the beneficiaries of the citizens. I also listened to the notes and suggestions of the owners of the companies and promised to study them by the bank and activate their outputs, which would positively affect the work of the Iraqi financial and economic sector."

The statement pointed out that "this visit comes from his keenness to see directly the actual reality of the work of these companies in order to develop the services provided by them."LINK

Clare:  VERY TIMELY IMO  

MilitiaMan:  Agreed Clare, very timely and to key issues too. Currency trading. Buying and selling foriegn currency. The Governor is viewing the reality of what these firms do and live, real time. He is going to study the suggestions and then activate there work into actual reality. Can't say it much clearer that that.  ~ MM

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Samson:  Deputy: Iraq's economy is going through its worst stages, and we fear that it will be the beginning of the end

12:59 - 11/03/2020

A member of the House Services Committee, Manar Abdul Muttalib, warned, on Tuesday, that the Iraqi economy is going through the worst phase ever, indicating that it is afraid that it will be the beginning of the end.

Abdul-Muttalib said in an interview with "the information", "The situation of the Iraqi economy after the financial crisis has reached a very critical stage, especially with the accumulation of crises and mistakes over the years."

She added, "If the House of Representatives agrees to borrow for the second time without any government solutions looming on the horizon in maximizing internal revenues and creating liquidity to pay salaries at least without any problems, then we are facing the beginning of the end for the economy."

She pointed out that "the Ministry of Finance is the first responsible for the current crisis as it represents the general framework for managing the country's financial policy, and it must have immediate solutions that contribute to extricating us from the current situation through a road map.

And Abdel-Muttalib pointed out that "until now, we do not know the number of state employees in the ministries and institutions and the number of so-called aliens who represent a real and serious problem in the body of the national economy due to the amount of money wasted."   LINK

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Samson:  Mass Demonstrations In Front Of The "Ministry Of Finance", Road Blockages And Clashes Over Salaries

3rd November, 2020

Hundreds of workers in the Ministry of Electricity on contracts and daily wages gathered today, Tuesday, in front of the Iraqi Ministry of Finance building to demand their financial entitlements that have been suspended for more than eight months.

The protesters set up girders to block a road near the ministry’s headquarters, and a clash took place with the security forces in front of the ministry’s building, resulting in injuries.   LINK

Samson:  Israeli Intelligence Minister Reveals Five Countries On "Normalization" Agenda

2nd November, 2020
Israeli Minister of Intelligence revealed today, Monday, that "Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Morocco are among the countries that are scheduled to establish relations with Israel within the framework of a regional rapprochement launched by US President Donald Trump."

"Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Morocco and Niger are on the agenda," Eli Cohen told "Ynet" television, indicating that "these are the five countries. If Trump's policy continues, we will be able to reach additional agreements."

Saudi Arabia implicitly accepted the UAE and Bahrain agreement with Israel, but did not go so far as to declare its support for them and hinted at its unwillingness to take such a step. In 2002, Riyadh proposed a peace plan between the Arabs and Israel calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories to clear the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Qatar, which has ties to Iran and the Hamas movement that runs the Gaza Strip, ruled out normalization before the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In contravention of the Israeli reservation in commenting on the US elections that will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, the Israeli intelligence minister considered that “the conclusion of more normalization agreements will depend on the extent of the “determination” of the next US president to confront Iran.

Democratic candidate Joe Biden wants to return to the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015, from which Republican President Donald Trump withdrew and his move was welcomed by Israel and some Arab Gulf states.

Trump focused on his policy in the Middle East during the election campaign, and in response to a question last week about countries that might follow the example of the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, Trump said, "We have five confirmed countries." Although he did not explicitly declare a preference for one American presidential candidate over another, Cohen said, "Trump's policy has pushed Arab and Islamic countries to rapprochement with Israel."

Cohen said that the next president "if he does not show decisiveness in confronting Iran, they will take their time and will not be in a hurry and will not choose one side without the other."  LINK