News, Rumors and Opinions Friday Morning 3-27-2020
KTFA:
MarkPam: I rarely post in the FORUM but to me the evidence is really becoming clear so please forgive my long diatribe as I intend to provide clarity on Frank and his teams educational construct:
Please look at the following information in a linear "timed" progression of events leading to a clear end point in the process of the RI of the IQD.
1. Post 34 per Delta, There are no "new" rates during the curfew, and, clearly the auctions have ceased as we once knew them so, where are the funds coming from for the day to day activities of the GOI to pay for goods and services, salaries, etc.
2. Post 39..China purchases oil from Russia...WHAT? A clear statement to OPEC and the Gulf Oil States...so Iraq, how are you going to cover your budget with the oil price in the $25 range and, the largest purchaser of oil in the world isn't buying from you.
3. Post 65-The Curfew is extended to 4/11 for Iraqi citizens excluding Healthcare, humanitarian services....and banks!! (Post 43)
4. Post 93-Social Security Payments are being made-electronic
Post 97-Salaries paid to General Arts Dept.-electronic
Post 115-Salaries to Kurdistan-electronic
Post 118-Salaries paid to Ministry Employees-electronic
Post 125-Basra payrolls due for payment....TODAY!-electronic
Post 141-Rashid Bank employees being paid....TODAY!-electronic
THE MONEY COFFERS ARE BEING DRAINED QUICKLY!!!!
5. Post 74-The sanction removal by the US for Iraq to purchase oil and gas from Iran was 90-120 days has now been reduced to 30 DAYS! What's going on?? (wink....tick tock!!)
6. And Finally, remember a day or two ago when Iraq went to the WB for a loan and the FAB4 said...."NO!" Well check out Post 74.."IMF Loans Jordan $1.3 BILLION!!! Slap!
Therefore, with money going out the door faster now that it is coming in. The auctions have ceased, reducing the amount of USD the CBI can use for GOI operational cash flow can only lead to an imminent change that "must" IMO occur quickly or the country will go bankrupt.
But, again IMO, they can go from Bankruptcy to the Boardroom in the International Platform with one swift move!!
Thank you for letting me pontificate on what appears to be an exciting and "incoming" event.
Have a great day!!!!
************
Venustwo2: So it appears that Iraq will be open for business on April 11th and USA on the 12th. This is very interesting to me.
************
Realtormc: US Brings Drug Trafficking Charges Against Maduro, Labels Venezuela A "State Sponsor Of Terror"
Courtesy of Dinar Guru: https://www.dinarguru.com/
Jeff What did I tell you was needed for a rate change? To shut down the financial markets. And they did and they're still down...the financial markets within Iraq have now been down for a period of two weeks. I told you that in my opinion the financial markets would be down down for a period of 4 weeks..
Frank26 The CBI has done the impossible...I said we are never going to have an RI until we control Iran. Sure enough we've got Iran controlled - Security and stability...Number 2: Stop the dog gone using of the American dollar in your country...the only way is to stop the auctions...here comes the coronavirus...that's a good excuse...Now you have a window so big you can throw the Empire State Building through it. They're not using the auctions...oil is dropping so low these guys have been pushed at the edge of the diving board...the only option is to jump in the international pool...raise the value...this is exciting. We got everything we've ever dreamed of...
Frank26 ...all the right pieces are in the right places to push the button to raise the value of the currency...these are the things we dream about, that we salivate about, that I sometimes cry about...now you've got Allaq from the CBI boldly coming out and saying this is the only solution - our monetary reforms, to lift the 3 zeros, add value, we've got to move forward...
**************
TNT:
Tishwash: Vietnamese currency more stable than other regional peers
HÀ NỘI — Though the unofficial value of the Vietnamese đồng has now fallen about 3 per cent against the US dollar, the rate is still a smaller depreciation than that seen by most of Việt Nam’s regional peers and is expected to stabilise around that level, management fund Vinacapital reported.
The Indonesian rupiah, Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit slid 19, 11 and 9 per cent, respectively. Though the Philippine peso inched down 1 per cent, its relative stability is attributable to the after-effects of a 34 per cent depreciation in the Philippine peso over the five years up to late-2018.
According to Vinacapital analysts, foreign investors aggressively sold Vietnamese stocks last week, prompting concerns among some locals that the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) may restrict the flow of US dollars out of the country, which was one of the factors that prompted last week’s đồng depreciation. However, the SBV is not contemplating any restrictions on foreign investors from repatriating dollars, and that the SBV has more than enough reserves to comfortably meet redemption.
“Việt Nam’s US$83 billion of foreign currency reserves are much larger than the country’s cumulative $30 billion of foreign indirect investment (FII) in-flows, and a high proportion of those FII are inflows were into illiquid private equity and/or large strategic stakes in publicly listed companies – both of which cannot be sold quickly. In short, the SBV has more than enough reserves to meet any short-term panic redemptions by foreign investors,” the analysts explained.
It noted that foreign investors sold around $260 million worth of stocks last week, but unlike past global “risk-off” episodes when investors sold Vietnamese stocks but kept the funds in the country such as at the end of 2018, this time some investors are repatriating dollars back to their home countries in response to the current global shortage.
Furthermore, since Việt Nam has not been a major recipient of the “hot money” inflows that destabilised ASEAN tiger economies in the past (for example, the proportion of Vietnamese Government bonds owned by foreign investors is very low, unlike in Indonesia), the SBV is well-positioned to meet any potential short-term panic redemptions by foreign investors.
Vinacapital believed the USD-VNĐ exchange rate should stabilise around the current level as the US Federal Reserve took concrete actions to stop the surge in the USD/DXY index last week while the SBV does not need to impose capital controls and the đồng is supported by high bank deposit interest rates and 33 per cent per GDP of forex reserves.
Việt Nam’s total reserves now reach up to about $83 billion, or four months’ worth of imports, but this figure understates the degree of support that Việt Nam’s FX reserves afford the currency because Việt Nam’s imports and exports are both around 100 per cent of GDP, which depresses the above-mentioned four months’ figure.
“For that reason, we’d like to highlight that Việt Nam’s current 32 per cent per GDP worth of FX reserves has nearly reached the 33 per cent per GDP level of FX reserves that China had accumulated just before the Yuan embarked on a 7-year appreciation that ultimately lifted its value by about 25 per cent,” Vinacapital noted
The country’s trade surplus reached nearly $3 billion as of mid-March, including a surplus of nearly $900 million in the first two weeks of this month, driven by 7 per cent year-on-year export growth.
Besides, Việt Nam’s deposit rates are attractive compared to regional peers and are becoming relatively even more attractive as regional peers’ central banks slash policy interest rates, the analysts said. link
Coronavirus response: 3 new ways the IRS is giving taxpayer relief
Ben Werschku lDC Producer Yahoo Finance March 26, 2020,
With some fanfare, the Treasury Department announced last week that the income tax filing day will be delayed from April 15 to July 15 for individuals and businesses.
“All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted at the time.
This week, the IRS announced further measures to give taxpayers help as COVID-19 brings the American economy to a standstill.
"The IRS is taking extraordinary steps to help the people of our country," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig in announcing the measures.
The moves – in effect from April 1 to July 15 – are in addition to a series of measures in the $2 trillion economic stimulus package to “at least temporarily ease the tax burden,” mostly for businesses. That legislation is widely expected to become law in the coming days.
Here are three of the highlights from the IRS actions announced this week.
No new audits (generally)
The agency announced that “the IRS will generally not start new field, office and correspondence examinations” during this period (April 1-July 15). A correspondence examination is another way to describe that dreaded letter from the IRS announcing an audit. As the agency likes to say, they don’t announce audits via phone.
However, the IRS says it might start new examinations to protect the government's interest if the statute of limitations is about to run out.
The agency will continue to work on refund claims without any in-person contact.
A suspension of any upcoming ‘seizures of a personal residence’
The agency also announced that field collection activities will be suspended from April 1 to July 15. Liens and levies will be suspended during this period, too.
However, the IRS underlined “field revenue officers will continue to pursue high-income non-filers”.
A temporary suspension of payments on an installment plans
Many taxpayers choose to pay their bill to the IRS (if they have one) over time instead of all at once. The new rules allow taxpayers to suspend payments that are due between April 1 and July 15, 2020.
But beware, the money will eventually be due and “[b]y law, interest will continue to accrue on any unpaid balances.”
The IRS also announced some easing of restrictions on taxpayers who are currently petitioning the IRS to forgive all or some of their outstanding tax bill – known as Offers in Compromise (OIC) in IRS lingo. Taxpayers now have until July 15 to make their case for relief and the IRS will not close any requests before July 15 without the taxpayer's consent.
The OIC process is for people facing a liability that exceeds their net worth in order to give them a “fresh start,” according to the IRS.
The announcement included a range of other measures including a relaxation of penalties on non-filers and news that they won’t forward delinquent taxpayers to private collection agencies or the State Department.
“During this difficult time, we want people working together, focused on their well-being, helping each other and others less fortunate" Rettig said.