Monday Afternoon Iraq Economy News Highlights 5-30-22
Monday Afternoon Iraq Economy News Highlights 5-30-22
Four Parliamentary Committees Rely On The Emergency Support Law
Posted On2022-05-30 By Sotaliraq The legal, financial, health, environment and education committees in the House of Representatives threw their weight in an attempt to include in the emergency support law the largest possible number of materials guaranteeing the allocations of several segments, including free lecturers and contract employees, this comes while the Ministry of Finance put its final touches on the 2022 budget. With half of it coming in by June.
And the ministry’s advisor, Abdul Hassan Jamal, said in a statement to Al-Iraqiya channel: “The budget department took into account all the allocations, including lecturers and contracts,” adding, “But we are waiting for the next government, because the current one has no powers that empower it to submit draft laws to Parliament.”
Jamal pointed out that “the financial ceilings have not been definitively determined. We must receive the proposed oil prices by the Ministry of Oil and the quantities of oil sold in accordance with the agreements with OPEC.”
Regarding the emergency support law, he explained that “the current law is similar to the one that was suspended by the Federal Court, and it will serve wide segments.” It seems that opponents of the law have changed their tone towards it, as the representative of the coordination framework, Waad Qaddo, said that the latter, “will reserve some provisions of the law if they are Put it to a vote again in Parliament.
Disclaimer: All published articles represent the opinion of its authors only LINK
Is The Emergency Support Law Being Challenged Again?.. The Parliamentary Legal Answer
2022-05-30 Yes Iraq: Baghdad Today, Monday, the Parliamentary Legal Committee ruled out challenging the emergency support law for food security and development, while noting that the way out of passing the budget bill is almost impossible.
The age head of the Legal Committee, Muhammad Anouz, said, “The way out of passing the federal budget bill for the year 2022 has become very difficult and almost impossible,” noting that “the government had an opportunity to present the law before the elections, even if one day it would have been easy, or it would have been. It should amend its internal system at the very least, since the concept of conducting business is governed by the constitutional timing process in that the election of a government directly within a month at the least.”
Anouz added, "There were attempts to compel the government to submit the budget, but the Federal Court's decision hampered this issue, and therefore an initiative took place by the House of Representatives to present the Food Security Law at the very least to move an aspect of social life, especially for the fragile social sectors and segments." .
He pointed out that "the Food Security Law is not expected to be challenged because it is governed by a constitutional provision that conduct of business does not include the submission of legislation. Therefore, an attempt was made, according to Article 60 of the Constitution, for the draft law to come from the government, and the proposed law comes from the House of Representatives and is submitted by At least 10 members of the House of Representatives or submitted by a specialized committee, and this is what happened,” expressing his hope that “the Food Security Law will proceed to secure people’s needs at least in a limited area,” stressing that “the budget will remain unpresentable.”
The Parliamentary Legal Committee confirmed, earlier, the possibility of legislating the 2022 budget law under the caretaker government, noting that the House of Representatives is working to find a legal formula that would allow it to be passed.
The head of the age of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Muhammad Anouz, said that "the dialogue is still continuing within the committee and the rest of the House of Representatives, in order to find a sound legal formula that allows receiving the 2022 draft budget from the caretaker government."
He added, "The House of Representatives is the supreme legislative body, and it can provide a legislative legal cover that allows meeting the needs of citizens, especially as the wheel of the economy awaits the financial allocations necessary to run the daily lives of citizens."
He continued, "Any talk about the possibility or inability to submit the draft budget does not stand in front of the necessary need of the Iraqi society, especially since there is a need to launch job opportunities and sectors that are waiting for solutions to legislate the budget." LINK
What Is Not Being Told About..The Future Of The Iraqi Economy To Where?!
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MAY 19, 2022 788 Nowadays, China is trying to support its plan in the One Belt, One Road project or the so-called “New Silk Road” by not interfering with geopolitical tensions.
Supporting some countries that constitute a cornerstone in this path militarily, culturally and investment, particularly in the field of energy.
Among the most important of these countries that support it is Iraq, which is considered a key region in the export of oil, as 90% of the revenues of Iraqi imports come from crude oil.
On the other hand, China excels in many fields of technology and infrastructure development , especially that Chinese state-owned companies are the largest investors of oil in Iraq, whether in modernizing or developing infrastructure in this industry even during the extended period of the war and beyond.
After imposing sanctions on Iran, China is seeking today to cover the shortage of oil imports by searching for oil-exporting countries, in a move that would constitute a severe blow to the Iranian oil sector, as the two Chinese oil companies were buying nearly 600,000 barrels per day of Iranian production.
On the other hand, Iraqi oil exports to China increased from zero in 2007 to 270 million barrels annually by 2017, ranking second after Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, where Iraqi oil exports represent about 8.8% of the total Chinese oil imports.
And China found in “loan diplomacy” the best way to expand its influence, adopting the “carrot and stick” method, whereby countries are tempted to engage in the distinguished project of Chinese foreign policy, which is known with the participation of 138 countries and 30 international organizations, with a colossal value of up to eight trillion dollars, before For the governments of these countries to sink into the debt quagmire, by granting them billions of dollars in loans on special terms, they are well aware that many countries will not be able to pay the debts nor their interests, only to find themselves a victim of a “debt trap.”
The term “debt trap diplomacy” is attributed to Brahma Chellani, the Indian thinker and academic, and he used it in his criticism of the Chinese government’s policy, which gives huge loans to countries, but in return seizes their strategic assets, as collateral for loans in the event of default, when speaking about the dragon strategy. The Chinese aim to exploit resources in the Third World, conquer local markets with low-quality Chinese goods, and even labor to compete for local jobs.
And the story of the “debt trap” was revealed in 2017, when a report spread confirming China’s clever takeover of the port of Hambantota city in Sri Lanka, after the state government was late in paying its debts, and Sri Lanka found itself paid, under the terms of the contract, about the privatization of 70 percent of the debt. China-funded port of a Chinese company.
And China intends to seize the projects that it has financed, which are ports, airports or strategic infrastructure, or at least take the right to use them for a long period, sometimes up to 99 years.
Chinese companies have been working in Iraq for years that may exceed a decade, and they focus a lot on projects related to oil and its derivatives or logistics services related to oil extraction operations in the regions of southern Iraq rich in natural resources.
But these companies, which have annual investments in the billions of dollars, are almost absent from oversight and from the eyes of the Iraqi, Arab and even international media, so they seem to be discreet companies that do not practice corruption.
According to informed sources, "Iraq lost millions of dollars due to the corruption of Chinese companies, which took advantage of the country's conditions and sought refuge with political parties that have great influence in Iraq and were able to evade taxes."
According to the sources, "these companies follow the mechanisms of dispatching officials and employees who have ties to their work to China and to Europe, in order to offer them temptations to cover up the corruption operations they carry out during their work in Iraq."
The deputy in the Iraqi parliament said during a television interview, "In Wasit Governorate, for example, we have 3 experiences with Chinese companies, which are among the worst applications on the ground, adding that the problem is corruption that hinders all steps of reconstruction."
In addition, the work of these companies is not limited to oil fields only. Earlier, they entered the file of armament contracts, but this file was also marred by corruption, according to the parliamentarian, who revealed in 2016 violations and suspicions of corruption in an armament deal with a Chinese company, and confirmed Other companies submitted bids with this company and were removed. LINK
Expert: Iraq's Fear Of China's Domination Of Its Oil Industry Is Pushing It Towards The West
Shafaq News/ Oil expert Hamza Al-Jawahiri confirmed, on Monday, that the fear of Chinese domination of the Iraqi oil industry pushed him towards Western companies, indicating that Western oil companies are reluctant to contract on projects due to financial corruption.
Al-Jawahiri told Shafak News Agency, "Chinese technology is equivalent to what is available in Western companies, and these companies and laboratories in the West have transferred their factories to China, and so is the case with technology, and that China themselves developed the technology and there is no objection to Chinese technology."
He added, "The objection comes to the Chinese domination of the Iraqi oil industry, which is what Iraq fears. Therefore, it seeks to find Western and Eastern diversity in direct national production."
And Al-Jawahiri said, "Iraq refuses to have a hegemony of one party at the expense of another, and seeks to find a balance between the West and the East."
He stressed that "hegemony is rejected, as your decision will depend on the interest of this state, especially since we are talking about major development projects whose costs range from 6 to 12 billion dollars and more, and these decisions affect sovereignty and therefore countries avoid placing their eggs in one basket."
He pointed out that "contracting projects, whether investment or service, is open to all, and China is present in every competitive process."
Al-Jawahiri added, "Western companies are reticent about obtaining projects in Iraq because of financial corruption because they are held accountable in their countries if they are involved in paying bribes and are included in the blacklist, unlike Chinese or eastern companies in general with the exception of Japanese companies, and therefore they get great opportunities in Iraq."
Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar, during his recent visit to France, called on French oil companies specialized in reconstruction to contribute to projects to increase production capacities, rehabilitate infrastructure, optimize gas and renewable energy investment, and improve oil working conditions and environment.
Abdul-Jabbar told Shafak News Agency; "Real investment that produces real value for the country, develops society and people, and raises the level of work ethics, is what Western companies do."
He added that "other companies are good at work, but they do not meet all these requirements," noting that "the ministry is trying to come up with the best companies capable of creating a social environment and good work and implement projects at the cheapest prices and the highest return."
A number of Western companies, including Oxon Mobil, had hinted at selling their stakes in the main oil fields in Iraq, and this step raised the fear of the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Oil in light of measures that may negatively affect Iraqi oil production, while the Minister of Oil demanded the necessity of contracting with one of the American companies in the event of an exit. Any American company from the Iraqi oil fields.
On July 4, when he was hosted by the House of Representatives, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar described this step by companies that demanded to sell their shares, such as Lukoil and ExxonMobil, that the investment climate is not attractive in Iraq. LINK
Chinese Companies Pay Bribes In Iraq.. The Mystery Of Insisting On Iraqi Oil In Exchange For The “Coolness” Of Western Companies
2022-05-30 Yes Iraq: Baghdad Indicators confirm the Chinese insistence and rush to invest in the Iraqi oil fields, offset by the “coolness” of Western companies and attempts to withdraw, which requires explanations to understand what is happening, and while reports indicated that Chinese companies do not seek big profits in Iraq as much as they seek to ensure the flow of oil supplies to China, Another explanation is related to the ability of Chinese companies to “keep up with corruption and pay bribes,” in contrast to Western companies that may be subject to sanctions in their countries if they commit any of these violations in Iraq.
Oil expert Hamza Al-Jawahiri says that “Chinese technology is equivalent to what exists in Western companies, and these companies and laboratories in the West have transferred their factories to China, as well as the case with technology, just as China themselves have developed technology and there is no objection to Chinese technology.”
He added, "The objection comes to the Chinese domination of the Iraqi oil industry, which is what Iraq fears. Therefore, it seeks to find Western and Eastern diversity in direct national production."
Al-Jawahiri indicated that "Iraq refuses to have a hegemony of one party at the expense of another and seeks to find a balance between the West and the East."
He stressed that "hegemony is rejected, as your decision will depend on the interest of this state, especially since we are talking about major development projects whose costs range from 6 to 12 billion dollars and more, and these decisions affect sovereignty and therefore countries avoid placing their eggs in one basket."
He pointed out that "contracting projects, whether investment or service, is open to all, and China is present in every competitive process."
Al-Jawahiri added, "Western companies are reticent about obtaining projects in Iraq because of financial corruption because they are held accountable in their countries if they are involved in paying bribes and are included in the blacklist, unlike Chinese or eastern companies in general with the exception of Japanese companies, and therefore they get great opportunities in Iraq." LINK
Parliamentary Finance: The Proposal For The Emergency Support Law Will Be Passed By A Two-Thirds Majority
Iraq 09:29 - 2022-05-30 Today, Monday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee announced that the emergency support law will be passed a week after the second reading, while noting that the Ministry of Health requested the allocation of 1.3 trillion dinars to its budget within the law.
A member of the committee, Sattar al-Atabi, said that "the committee hosted the stakeholders regarding the proposed emergency support law," noting that "the members of the committee are determined to discuss the provisions of the law until it is properly matured."
He added, "We are trying to pass the law within a ceiling of 25 trillion dinars," noting that "there are no obstacles or impediments regarding the law."
Al-Atabi continued, "The Ministry of Health requested the allocation of 1.3 trillion dinars to its budget within the emergency support law," noting that "the law will be presented tomorrow for the second reading and will be voted on a week after the completion of the second reading."
And he indicated that "the law will be passed by a majority of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives," warning "some political parties against integrating the law into the political conflict."