KTFA:

Samson:  Economic: Parliament cannot change oil prices and the dollar in the 2021 budget

16:05 - 06/02/2021

An economist, Bassem Antoine, confirmed, on Saturday, that the 2021 budget is moving towards a vote, and Parliament cannot amend the exchange rates of the dollar or sell oil.

Antoine said in a statement to the "information" agency, "It is not within the powers of the House of Representatives to change and amend exchange rates and oil prices, whether the prices are high or low, as these are the exclusive powers of the government."

He added, "After the central bank approved the new exchange rates in agreement with the government, the budget numbers are not subject to amendment and cannot be challenged by Parliament."

In a related context, Antoine emphasized, "The decrease or lack of central bank sales is a reflection of the changes that occurred in the exchange rates of the dollar, which pushed the merchant and the citizen to not risk and engage in new trade in light of the economic transformations of the Iraqi market."  LINK

MilitiaMan:  So they have it now set in stone. The Central Bank approved the new exchange rates and they are not to be challenged by the Parliament, as it is is out of their hands.

The exchange rates are not to be amended...They were told by the IMF that they would change the rate in the then current fiscal year and they did it.

They were also told by the IMF and the US FED that they could in the IMFs case change it again in early 2021 whereas, they FED just made it perfectly clear that countries can and do "Devalue and Revalue" their currencies.

 So, it appears with all the talk of the 2021 Budget and the Kurds, etc., we can see that the IMF, WB, G7, UST, ITB, AMF, GCC, US State Department, etc., etc., have all had a hand in supporting the effort to get Iraq up out and into the private sector.

The last two paragraphs must be held tight to the chest until the right time to expose the real effective exchange rate to the world.

But, if the AMF has anything for us to compare to, we know they are pegged to the USD by virtue of the IMF SDR basket. We know how they express that value too. It is clear as a bell.

We are in a vey good place at this stage.. imo.. ~ MM

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Samson:  Parliamentary Finance announces a deduction of 20% from the budget of the presidencies and talks about employee leave

5th February, 2021

The Finance Committee in the House of Representatives announced, on Friday, a deduction of 20% from the budget of the three presidencies in the 2021 budget, while confirming the reduction of the budget ceiling to 130 trillion dinars instead of 164 trillion

A member of the Finance Committee, Majida Al-Tamimi, said in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency, which was followed by Al-Iqtisad News, saying that "the section on the deductions that came from the government in the draft budget was canceled and compensated for by applying the Income Tax Law No. (113) of 1982.  She added that "the spending ceiling has been reduced in the budget from 164 trillion dinars to 130 trillion, and other revenues have also been increased," stressing that "the budget included a lot of economic reforms

She explained that she "chaired the special subcommittee of the three presidencies in the budget and was able to deduct 20% of the budget of each presidency from the three presidencies in the budget. She pointed out that "the House of Representatives took on the role of the executive and legislative authorities at the same time in the 2021 budget," indicating that "every article in the budget has been studied 5 times and in extensive discussions

Al-Tamimi added, "The Financial Committee hosted 90 to 95 percent of the executive bodies, including the Office of Financial Supervision, and important observations in the oil sector and licensing rounds were discussed," noting that "there is a waste and big losses in this sector, some of which need to be Resolution and other parts into law

On the five-year leave for employees, Al-Tamimi confirmed, "The five-year leave has been approved for one time, meaning that the employee is not entitled to take a second leave, indicating that the five-year employee is covered by the income tax law from his nominal salary   LINK

MilitiaMan:  They sure have had it long enough.. Five times would make me think they needed to make sure it is perfect or they are biding their time on or for a purpose. The new phase to come to not only to Iraq but Globally is the digital phase.

 The border crossings with taxes, fees, licensing, insurance, etc. will all be digitized and be able to interlink and communicate. They need to get it right. They all so may have found a way to circumvent the Oil Contracts in place with the Kurds and other countries in the region, hence, the change in direction for the way they share oil and customs revenue sharing.

 Looks like it may be easier and cleaner for them the get the oil money and allow for the border monies to Baghdad while under the supervision of a special team to be in place for financial supervision. Linking them to the central bank!!! imo.. ~ MM

""the House of Representatives took on the role of the executive and legislative authorities at the same time in the 2021 budget," indicating that "every article in the budget has been studied 5 times and in extensive discussions

The committee stated that it voted to support the decentralized system in the governorates and to give powers to the governors to make decisions without the red tape and complexity of the ministries, and to support and involve the Iraqi private sector, in which more than millions of citizens work, by building investment projects and revitalizing the local market.

The Parliamentary Committee obligated the Council of Ministers to automate the procedures of tax, customs and import licenses at the border crossings, linking them to the currency sale window in the Central Bank, and obliging importing companies to take out insurance in Iraqi companies exclusively to increase state revenues.

Samson:  Al-Karawi: 5 files have not been resolved yet in the budget law

2/4/2021 20:38

Member of the Parliamentary Regions Committee, MP Mudhar Al-Karawi, confirmed, on Thursday, that the 2021 budget will be decided next week.

Al-Karawi said, "The budget for 2021 was expected to take place this week, but there are 5 important files that have not been resolved so far, including the share of Kurdistan and recent commitments to Baghdad in terms of oil, border crossings and the rest of the other files in addition to the share of southern governorates and the allocations of liberated areas."

Al-Karawi added, “All expectations indicate that the next week will be decisive if new developments arise that lead to waiting, stressing that the parliament is forced to extend its legislative recess again in order to complete the budget file, which we believe will face many complications during the voting stage due to disagreements about points Multiple”.

For several weeks, the Parliamentary Finance Committee has been conducting extensive discussions about the file of the items and chapters of the 2021 budget in order to complete it and present it to the House of Representatives for a vote.   LINK

 Militiaman:   Next Week starts tomorrow. The data below suggests they have voted on many things. Much of it suggests they are going to be going to the private sector. Automation of Customs and Taxes link via the currency window of the CBI. The final nail is coming.. eos.. imo.. ~ MM

"The committee indicated that it voted to ensure the delivery of crude oil produced in the fields of Kurdistan region to the federal government, and to increase the amounts of compensation for those affected by terrorism and covered by the decisions of the Martyrs Foundation and the Political Prisoners Foundation."

"The Parliamentary Committee obligated the Council of Ministers to automate the procedures of tax, customs and import licenses at the border crossings, linking them to the currency sale window in the Central Bank, and obliging importing companies to take out insurance in Iraqi companies exclusively to increase state revenues."

"The committee voted to include areas outside the basic design of Baghdad governorate with municipal service and allocate the necessary funds for that, and obligate the Council of Ministers to use the biometric system for employees to uncover "aliens" in all ministries and institutions. The committee stressed the cabinet's obligation to reassess and negotiate with oil licensing rounds companies and Ministry of Electricity contracts, and to cancel all customs exemptions granted to countries." Link

Papito:  What is eos?

David R:  I'm going to take a wild guess and say economies of scale...imo

 MilitiaMan:  It means in this case... end of story... imo lol ~ MM