TNT:

Tishwash: After years of delay and disagreement... an agreement by the "majority" to pass the Oil and Gas Law – Urgent

Today, Monday, the Kurdistan Democratic Party revealed the existence of a political agreement to pass the oil and gas law with the start of the new legislative term of the House of Representatives.

The leader of the party, Wafaa Muhammad Karim, told (Baghdad Today) that "there is a political agreement between all political blocs and parties to pass the oil and gas law because of its importance, with the start of the new legislative term of the House of Representatives."

And Karim stated, "This law, which will regulate the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil with all oil and financial files, will be passed by the parliamentary majority. The agreement to pass the law took place between the blocs and parties of the State Administration Coalition."

The Oil and Gas Law, which has been awaiting legislation in parliament since 2005, stipulates that the responsibility for managing the country's oil fields should be entrusted to a national oil company, and it should be supervised by a federal council specialized in this matter.

But since 2003, Baghdad and Erbil have been at odds over the issue of managing the region's oil fields.

Baghdad says that the region does not declare real oil export amounts and does not hand over those amounts to it, while Kurdistan says that exports from the oil fields in its territory must be subject to its management, whether in terms of granting licenses for new exploration, managing existing fields, or controlling production and export. For the destinations he chooses, or contracting for the purchase and development. link

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Bigt35: So today on Google News even took a snapshot article Says Iraq’s CBI making a move to strengthen the dinar against the Dollar . Found that interesting . Meaning being in Google news for everyone to see .

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Tishwash: Jamal Cougar: The government promised to lower the price of the dollar, but it lost control over it

Member of the Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, held the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers responsible for the significant rise in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, while calling on the committee to intensify its meetings to put pressure on the concerned authorities and to know the causes of the rise and address them.

In a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency ( NINA ), Cougar said, "The large rise in the dollar will negatively affect the Iraqi economy, as it will lead to economic stagnation, because the investor and trader are afraid of any fluctuation in the currency that leads to an increase in the prices of goods and services."

He added, "The government promised to control prices while it lost control, and the market is controlling the price of the dollar against the dinar, and this weakens the government's ability and loses the citizen's confidence in it."

Cougar indicated that "the concerned authorities / the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers / are responsible for this rise and its treatment, and the Finance Committee should intensify its efforts by hosting those concerned and putting pressure on them. link

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Tishwash: Deputy: Iraqi banks involved in smuggling large sums of money

The deputy of the State of Law Coalition, Jawad Al-Ghazali, revealed, on Monday, the involvement of Iraqi banks in smuggling large sums of hard currency outside the country.

Al-Ghazali said, in a statement to Al-Maalouma, that "Iraqi banks are looking for legal loopholes to smuggle money out of the country," expressing his hope that "the prime minister and the relevant ministers will be able to draw up a strategic plan to monitor the work and performance of banks and preserve the hard currency."

He added, "Banks and private banks are involved in exploiting legal loopholes to plunder Iraq's bounties that come from selling the work auction," pointing out that "the proceeds of the currency sale auction revived the pockets of the corrupt and looters of Iraq's resources through the monopoly of the dollar."

And the deputy of the State of Law coalition, Jassim Al-Moussawi, accused, in a previous interview with Al-Maalouma, private banks of smuggling currency and money laundering in the previous period, calling on the new government to control the doors of smuggling currency out of Iraq. link

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Harambe: Iran's currency slumps to another all-time low amid unrest | 12/26/22

Iran’s national currency rial continues to lose ground against the US dollar, slumping to the lowest-ever rate recorded in the country's open market on Sunday amid months-long protests.

The stumbling rial traded above 411,000 to the greenback on bonbast foreign exchange website on Sunday as US dollar and other foreign currencies fiercely rallied against it.

It is the first time in the country's history that the rial has breached the 400,000 threshold, sparking concerns in the foreign exchange market and financial circles.

Since mid-September, when young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini's death in police custody triggered countrywide protests, Iran's currency has lost almost 20% value, according to market analysts.

In his remarks last week, Central Bank Governor Ali Salehabadi blamed the turbulence in the forex market on the ongoing protests, while also noting other destabilizing factors, including US sanctions.

He, however, pledged to inject more dollars into the market to restore order, saying the central bank will act both as a "market-maker and hard currency policy-maker".

The move, however, didn't work as the country's parliament on Sunday summoned Salehabadi and Iran's finance minister and government spokesman Ehsan Khandozi.

Khandozi assured lawmakers that the apex bank is mulling measures to restore stability in the forex market, while blaming "enemies" for turning their focus to banks and the forex market after "failing to close markets", referring to recent nationwide strikes.

Parliament Speaker Baqer Ghalibaf, however, was scathing in his criticism of the central bank, saying the situation in the forex market is "not acceptable to people"

Iran has been rocked by widespread protests in recent months in the wake of Amini's death, sparking fresh tensions between Tehran and Western countries and resulting in fresh sanctions against the country.

On Friday, Germany said it was downgrading relations with Iran and suspending trade promotion programs, citing the "very serious situation" in the country.

The depreciation of Iran's currency also comes amid a standoff over talks in Vienna aimed at salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal and reports about Iran supplying drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.

It is worth noting that since May 2018, when the former US administration walked out of the nuclear deal, Iran's currency has seen a seven-fold devaluation, which has fueled the country's economic crisis and worst inflation.

https://www.yenisafak.com/world/irans-currency-slumps-to-another-all-time-low-amid-unrest-3657862

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