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More Iraqi News Tuesday PM 10-27-20

More Iraqi News Tuesday PM 10-27-20

TLM724 Administrator BondLady’s Corner

The Collapsed Economy In Iraq Turns Into A Threat To OPEC

Reports  Economy News _ Baghdad  From his office on the third floor in eastern Baghdad, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar can see the loud protesters below as they march toward Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the recent Iraqi uprising.

On Sunday, thousands of Iraqis gathered again carrying national flags in the square, across the Tigris River from the heavily fortified Green Zone, where its US embassy is located. Their list of grievances was long: corrupt politicians, daily power cuts, dilapidated hospitals, dilapidated roads, and a shortage of jobs.

Iraq may be the world's third-largest oil exporter, but its economy is collapsing after the coronavirus pandemic depleted global energy demand and caused prices to collapse. The state finances are so dire that it cannot pay the salaries of teachers and civil servants on time, threatening to repeat the unrest that brought down the government last year and saw hundreds of protesters killed.

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This created a dilemma for the 46-year-old Abdul-Jabbar, a chemical engineer and professional oil man, who is now caught between the demands of angry residents and the pledges made to allies in OPEC. The oil producer cartel is trying to boost the fragile market by holding back supplies and major producers such as Iraq need to stick to the line. For Iraq, restricting supplies carries an enormous economic - and political - cost. But breaking the ranks is also risky: it could mean lower prices for everyone.

Some Iraqis want the government to put them first simply by pumping more oil, a move that could dismantle a carefully calibrated production agreement; If an important product like Iraq violated the agreement, there wouldn't be much to stop small businesses from doing the same.

"I waited more than 45 days to get my monthly salary," said Ziad Al-Mustansir, 44, a high school teacher in Baghdad, according to Bloomberg. The government should have taken care of the country's interests when it came to OPEC. If such deals mean losses for the country, we should not go with it. ”

Under an agreement reached in April between Iraq and other members of OPEC +, a group affiliated with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and countries like Russia, Baghdad had to reduce its daily production by about 1 million barrels - roughly $ 40 million worth - to 3.6 million.

The idea was that cutting supply would raise crude prices enough to compensate for lost exports. While prices have more than doubled since the agreement to $ 40 a barrel, they are still down nearly 40% this year, and are at levels well below what Iraq needs to fund its budget. The government's monthly revenue of $ 3 billion is less than half of what it was last year.

Iraq has already violated its production limits on several occasions and angered the de facto leaders of OPEC +, Saudi Arabia and Russia. The risk for them is if Baghdad starts pushing more barrels to the market to get every other dollar it can.

Iraqi officials have repeatedly said that they are committed to the agreement, that they are pumping in one line and will compensate for the excess production. However, after previous breakouts, traders are closely watching for signs of a cap crossed again.

"It will become difficult for OPEC + to maintain discipline as countries, especially Iraq, become more desperate," said Tariq Fadlallah, CEO of Nomura Asset Management Middle East.

All countries in OPEC + have been shocked by the oil collapse. The Russian ruble has lost nearly a fifth of its value, Saudi Arabia has tripled its value-added tax to compensate for dwindling oil income, and more than 60 people have died this month during protests in Nigeria.

But Iraq, where oil accounts for nearly all government revenue, is in nearly the worst position. Its GDP will shrink by 12% this year, more than any other OPEC member under a production quota, according to IMF projections. Number of observations 79 Date of addendum 10/28/2020 

 https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=22442

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Malal Talal: The State's Revenues Are Insufficient To Meet The Salaries Of Employees In The Coming Months

Ahmed Mulla Talal  Money and business  Economy News – Baghdad  The spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, Ahmed Mulla Talal, announced that the state’s revenues are insufficient to meet the salaries of employees in the coming months.

Talal said the decline in state revenues in the past several months was insufficient to pay off its salaries and other urgent obligations. On this basis, the government requested from Parliament additional borrowing authority to fill the financing gap until the 2021 budget presentation .

He added that the 2021 budget will be a reform budget par excellence and based on the requirements of the white paper, and measures will be taken directly aimed at improving state revenues and controlling expenditures. Number of observations 13 Date of addendum 10/28/2020  

https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=22444

Parliamentary Finance: The Government Submitted A Borrowing Request Without Specifying The Destination Of The Exchange

Money  and business  Economy News _ Baghdad  The Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed, on Wednesday, that yesterday's meeting regarding the government's request for borrowing was unclear because the borrowing amounts were not specified for the exchange and this we did not accept, indicating that the government is trying to pressure Parliament and put it between two fires, but the committee will host today the Minister of Finance and a number of ministry officials To determine the law of disability and exchange points.

Committee member Jamal Cougar said in a press interview, "The meeting of the Finance Committee did not resolve the government's request for a new borrowing because the government did not clarify where the amounts were spent."

Cougar added, "The committee will hold, today, an expanded meeting with the Minister of Finance, the Director General of the Budget and the Governor of the Central Bank for the purpose of clarifying the funds requested by the Ministry and to whom it will be disbursed," expressing his belief that "the committee will not approve the amount that Parliament requested approval. on him".

He pointed out that "the Ministry of Finance is trying every time to put the House of Representatives in an embarrassing position and put it between two fires of acceptance and rejection."

Number of observations 174 Date of addendum 10/28/2020   https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=22439

Parliamentary Finance: We Will Approve 9 Trillion Dinars To Lend The Government

 Parliamentary Finance Committee  Money  and business  Economy News – Baghdad The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced that it would approve lending the government 9 trillion dinars, not 31 trillion dinars.

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Mazhar, said that the Ministry of Finance needs 9 trillion dinars to cover the fiscal deficit in the coming months.

He added that 31 trillion dinars, the size of the deficit, is incorrect, explaining that the Finance Committee refuses to grant this amount to the government.  Number of observations 116 Date of addendum 10/28/2020  https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=22435

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The Beginning Of The Joint Iraqi-Egyptian Higher Committee Meetings At The Expert Level In Baghdad

Money  and business  Economy News _ Baghdad  The meetings of the joint Iraqi-Egyptian higher committee at the expert level began in Baghdad today, Wednesday.

The Administrative Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Walid Habib Al-Mousawi, said in a speech that Iraq "hopes, through holding these meetings, to consolidate political, economic, commercial, scientific and technical relations between the two countries, stressing that the Iraqi government is keen to increase the volume of trade exchange to rise to the level of ambition of both sides by giving The private sector has a bigger role in the economic development process. "

For his part, the head of the Egyptian side, Tariq Shaarawi, stressed that the convening of the joint higher committee is to activate the outputs of the tripartite summit (Egyptian, Iraqi, and Jordanian) that was held at the level of the leaders of the three countries, especially with regard to economic cooperation and the important issues identified by the summit for the course of relations.

He indicated that the meetings of the Supreme Committee are to raise the level of economic and investment cooperation and increase the volume of exchange to the highest levels in line with Egypt's production and export capabilities, as well as to stimulate the private sector to form joint partnerships in the industrial and agricultural sectors and work to grant the necessary facilities to investors and develop the investment climate.

Number of observations 93 Date of addendum 10/28/2020  https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=22443

An Economist Calls On The Government To Restructure The Rentier Economy And Move Away From The Option Of Devaluing The Currency

Wednesday 28, October 2020 09:51 | Economical Views: 170  Baghdad / NINA / The specialist in economic affairs, Hussein Shaker Tahilo, called on the government to resort to a comprehensive economic reform of the Iraqi economic structure by diversifying the production structure across various economic sectors, such as industry, agriculture, services and even the oil sector, and moving away from the option of devaluing the Iraqi currency. "One of the most important problems facing the economies of different countries is the problem of the relationship between the national currency and other foreign currencies,

" Tuhilo told the Iraqi National News Agency ( NINA ), noting that the foreign exchange rate links prices to two different countries or several countries and is a standard through which all prices are translated.

He pointed out that "Iraq suffers from a three-dimensional crisis, which is (economic-political-health) and all these crises have their negative effects on Iraq in general and on the economic structure in particular, indicating that what is being raised now in the corridors of the Iraqi government through its reform paper Al-Bayda on reducing the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar that the reduction means (making the value of the monetary unit of the national currency equal to a smaller number of foreign exchange units), which is the currency whose value becomes higher after the reduction.

That is, the gap in the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar between the official and parallel markets is large, This will negatively affect the Iraqi economy. "

He explained, "The main reason that pushes Iraq to reduce its currency is the deficit in the balance of payments, and this is what Iraq suffers under the rentier state," stressing that the reduction will generate monetary inflation and lead to an increase in the prices of goods and services and that higher prices will be reflected in this currency relationship. The country has the rest of the currencies, which may push the government to devalue the currency

https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?Key=865507

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An Economist Calls On The Investment Authority To Launch A New Investment Map

Wednesday 28, October 2020 09:12 | Economical Views: 204  Baghdad / NINA / Economic expert, Raad Twaij, called on the Investment Authority to put forward a new investment map, especially after the authority took over the leadership.

Twig said in a statement to the Iraqi National News Agency / NINA / that "the investment opportunities that must be contained in this map should be consistent with what resulted in the European Prime Minister’s tour, attracting European companies and general foreign direct investment and trying to develop the investment law."

Twig stressed the need for these projects to be strategic to absorb large numbers of the unemployed and increase the purchasing power of society and the real income of individuals ./ End 8

https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?Key=865497

The Official Working Hours Will Be Suspended Tomorrow, Thursday, On The Occasion Of The Prophet’s Birthday

Local news  Wednesday 28 October 2020 | 03:21 pm| Views: 98  The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announced, on Wednesday, that the official working hours will be suspended tomorrow, Thursday, on the occasion of the birth of the Prophet .

The secretariat said in a statement that "it has been decided to suspend the official working hours for tomorrow, Thursday, on the occasion of the Prophet’s birthday ."

She added that "the holiday is included in the list of annual official holidays and does not need to be announced." https://aynaliraqnews.com/index.php?aa=news&id22=140267

In The Document ... Parliamentary Finance Asks Al-Kazemi's Opinion On Dispensing With `` Borrowing '' After Mulla Talal's Statement

Wednesday 28, October 2020 13:39 | Economical Views: 199  Baghdad / NINA / Head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Haitham Al-Jubouri, asked Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi's opinion on dispensing with `` borrowing '' after Ahmed Mulla Talal's statement.

And Ahmed Mulla Talal, the media spokesman for the Prime Minister, confirmed yesterday that there is no intention to print a currency to fill the salary deficit, indicating that "the government has other solutions in the event that the law on financing the deficit is not passed." / End 8   https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=865577

 

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