More Saturday News from KTFA Members 3-27-2021

KTFA:

Samson:  The Kurdish delegation in Baghdad today and optimism that the budget will be approved tomorrow

27th March 2021

The delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government, tomorrow, Sunday, in Baghdad, will resume its negotiations regarding the share of the Kurdistan Region in the federal budget, in a positive atmosphere by resolving the disputed points and voting on the budget.

The deputy from the Kurdistan Democratic Bloc, Sherwan Al-Dubirdani, told Shafaq News:

The Kurdish delegation will arrive this evening in Baghdad, and tomorrow it will hold a meeting with the Presidency of Parliament and heads of political blocs to resolve the points of disagreement and reach a final agreement to vote on the budget law.

Aldobardani added; The atmosphere is currently positive, especially after the meeting of the Finance Committee and its hosting of the ministers, and that tomorrow, Sunday, will be a crucial day for voting on the budget law.

He pointed out that the date of the session may be delayed by an hour or two, but that it will be held to vote on the articles of the budget law gradually from Article 1 to Article 58, in addition to the articles added to the law.   LINK

Don961:  A member of Parliamentary Integrity talks about a shocking number regarding the amount of money smuggled out of Iraq

232 Policy 2021/03/27 19:42 ht   Baghdad today - Follow-up, 

A member of the Integrity Committee in the House of Representatives, Taha Al-Defense, revealed the amount of money smuggled outside Iraq, while he confirmed that the smuggling operations took place through Iraqi banks.

"The volume of money that smuggled out of Iraq under the pretext of import amounted to 350 billion dollars through fraudulent invoices and a number of banks," Al-Defense said in a televised statement that was followed by (Baghdad Today).

In another aspect of his speech regarding the relationship between the center and the region, he added, "The Iraqi government is suffering from the inaction of the Kurdistan Regional Government in not handing over one cent of the oil money from 2010 until today, and whoever has anything other than this should prove it with the documents."

And on the possibility of changing the exchange rate of the dollar, Al-Defense said, "The exchange rate will remain around 1450 dinars against the dollar, and it is difficult to change it in the near term." The economic expert, Rasim Al-Aqidi, proposed on Monday (March 15, 2021) a solution to prevent “smuggling the dollar”, if it was agreed to return the old exchange rate.

Al-Aqidi said in an interview with (Baghdad Today), "The increase in the exchange rate of the dollar by the Central Bank of Iraq was an attempt to regain control of the dinar, but on the other hand, most of the border outlets are still under the influence of influential parties, in addition to the existence of informal outlets in Kurdistan."

He continued, "These problems are a source of economic benefit to all neighboring countries, without exception."

Al-Aqidi said, "Restoring the dollar’s ​​exchange rate to its previous position, without adopting specific controls, will lead to the return of smuggling of the dollar and thus the lack of money supply to the government, meaning that the salary crisis and the inability to finance projects in the governorates will return."

He pointed out that "the smuggling operations are carried out by businessmen supported by influential parties that cannot be held accountable. He will also restore the principle of importing cheap goods that flood the markets and destroy the local industry."

He pointed out, "The importance of the process of restoring the exchange rate of the dollar to its previous position if the matter is agreed upon according to very stringent mechanisms in terms of granting the dollar to traders and companies through strict controls, and the adoption of electronic and automated governance that shows the quality of goods to avoid importing prohibited materials." ".

He continued, "As money is transferred through the Iraqi Trade Bank, to the exporting companies, so that the latter give notices about the quality and quantity of imported materials in order to control the import file and avoid smuggling the dollar abroad."   LINK

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Don961:  Oil jumps 4% due to fears of a possible halt in navigation in the Suez Canal for weeks ... Brent to $ 64.57 a barrel

Saturday 27 March 2021 - 13:15

(CNBC) - Oil prices rose by more than 4% today, Friday, due to fears that the floatation of a giant, stranded container tanker that impedes navigation in the Suez Canal may take weeks, which could put pressure on supplies of crude and refined products.

This constitutes a rebound from a sharp drop in the previous session, against the backdrop of fears that demand will be affected as a result of new closures related to Corona virus in Europe.

Brent crude rose $ 2.62, equivalent to 4.2%, to reach the settlement price of $ 64.57 a barrel, after dropping 3.8% on Thursday.

US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $ 2.41, or 4.1%, to settle at $ 60.97 a barrel, after tumbling 4.3% the previous day.

Brent increased 0.1% over the course of the past week, while West Texas Intermediate was down 0.7%, its third consecutive weekly loss.

 The oil market has been volatile this week as investors weigh the potential impact of congestion in the Suez Canal that began on Tuesday and the impact of new lockdown measures linked to the Coronavirus.

The Suez Canal today intensified efforts to liberate the delinquent giant ship after previous efforts failed. Efforts to free them could take weeks, with unstable weather potentially causing complications.

 Of the 39.2 million barrels per day of total crude oil imported by sea in 2020, 1.74 million barrels per day used the canal, according to Kepler to track tanker movements.

In addition, Kepler said, only slightly less than 9% or 1.54 million barrels per day of global refined product imports passed through the Suez Canal.

Kepler said today that ten ships waiting at the entry points of the canal were diverting about ten million barrels of oil.

The stoppage of the Suez Canal is causing disruption, resulting in the nearly doubling of shipping costs for tankers of petroleum products this week and diverting several ships away from the waterway.

Prices are supported by expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies will keep their production low.

Goldman Sachs said it expected OPEC + to keep production levels for May unchanged when the group meets next week.   LINK

Don961:  Pictures from space show the size of the ship's "crisis" in the Suez Canal

295 Economie 2021/03/27 16:25
Baghdad Today - Follow-up

The European Space Agency has published dramatic images from space of the crisis created by the stranded "Evergreen" in the Suez Canal.

Satellite images showed dozens of ships parked in the Red Sea, waiting to cross the Suez Canal, which appeared thanks to small white dots from space.

European Space Agency compared the state of ships before the "crisis", in which limited ships appeared in the Red Sea.

The giant container ship "Evergiven", owned by the Japanese company Shuikison, was aground due to strong winds and a dust storm, Tuesday, in the southern part of the canal.

This caused a real crisis for global navigation, as the Suez Canal is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and about 12 percent of global trade volume passes through Suez.

The charter company for the delinquent container ship in the Egyptian Suez Canal announced, on Thursday, that two professional rescue teams from the Netherlands and Japan have been assigned to work with the local authorities to develop a more effective plan to re-float the giant vessel.

"Evergreen" company said that the company that owns the ship has appointed "Smit Salvage" from the Netherlands and "Nippon Salvage" from Japan, and they will work alongside the captain of the ship and the Suez Canal Authority to implement the float plan for the stranded ship.   LINK