News, Rumors and Opinions Thursday Morning 3-12-2020
TNT:
Harambe: Bloomberg: Zimbabwe Now Turns to a ‘Task Force’ to End Its Currency Rout (3/11/20)
Zimbabwe will set up a currency stabilization “task force” in a new attempt to end a rout that’s seen the local unit weaken more than 50% against the U.S. dollar on the parallel market in the past two weeks.
Even having one of the world’s highest central-bank interest rates hasn’t helped to curb exchange-rate volatility amid weak economic growth and triple-digit inflation.
The currency team will be jointly run by the finance ministry and the central bank, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told reporters in the capital, Harare, on Wednesday. It will also include members from the bank’s monetary policy committee and the presidential advisory council.
“The task force will meet at least once a week to review the conditions in the markets, monitor the behavior of key variables such as the exchange rate and inflation,” said Ncube, who will be its chairman.
The gap between the currency’s official and black-market rates has widened more than twofold. The Zimbabwe dollar slid to 39.5 per U.S. dollar on the black market, according to marketwatch.co.zw, a local website, while the official exchange rate is 18.3. The central bank kept its key rate unchanged at 35% last month, and annual inflation is estimated at more than 500%.
An electronic foreign-exchange system would be adopted immediately to ensure that a “true market exchange rate” was determined, the ministry said.
Tishwash: Alert in Iraq and the United Nations calls for restraint
Iraqi and United Nations officials condemned, today, Thursday, the missile attack on an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad, which resulted in the deaths of three, including two American and British soldiers, and the injury of 12 others, condemning a dangerous escalation in a country that pays the price of tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces mobilized its forces in Baghdad, and armed factions vacated their headquarters, amid fears that they would be targeted by the American aviation. And the security forces deployed in locations in the capital, Baghdad, and conducted searches covering a number of areas.
Two soldiers, an American and a British, and an American contractor were killed, on Wednesday evening, in an attack by 18 Katyusha rockets that targeted the Iraqi military base of Taji, which houses American soldiers north of Baghdad, which escalated the tension between Washington and its allies on the one hand, and Tehran and the factions loyal to it on the other.
Soon after this attack, which was the deadliest ever against American interests in Iraq for several years, 26 Iraqi fighters were killed in air strikes "likely" by the international coalition, targeting the sites of Tehran's allies on the Iraqi-Syrian border.
This is the 22nd attack since the end of October against American interests in Iraq. Similar attacks targeting American soldiers and diplomats or American facilities in Iraq have resulted in the death of an American contractor and an Iraqi soldier.
No one has claimed responsibility for the missile attack on the military base, but Washington usually accuses the pro-Iranian factions of launching similar attacks, in the context of tension between Iran and the United States for months, as part of revenge for the assassination of the influential Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Authority Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis in an American strike in Baghdad.
Each time, Iraqi forces confirm that the missile launcher was quickly found in those attacks, in addition to unexploded missiles, but the investigations never led to the perpetrators of the attacks.
And at dawn on Thursday, the Joint Operations Command issued a statement denouncing the attack, which is "a very serious security challenge".
For their part, President of the Republic Barham Salih and Parliament Muhammad al-Halbousi condemned the "terrorist attack" that is "targeting Iraq and its security."
Abdul Mahdi demands an investigation
For his part, resigned Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi directed the opening of the investigation with the bombing, and the Joint Operations Command (responsible for Iraq’s security) said in its statement that “the Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, directed the opening of an immediate investigation to find out who brought To take such hostile and dangerous action, to prosecute and arrest it, and to bring it to justice, regardless of who the body is. "
She called on the citizens to "provide any information about the perpetrators of the work," confirming that it "takes firm measures and will strongly respond to any targeting of camps and bases."
She pointed out that "the coalition forces are present with the approval of the Iraqi government, and that its mission is to train Iraqi forces, to fight" ISIS "and not to any other party, and that serious discussions are taking place with them regarding the decision to withdraw them that was taken by the government and parliament.
The UN mission in Iraq called for "exercising the utmost restraint", saying that "the conduct of armed groups by rogue groups constitutes a source of permanent concern" in Iraq. The mission added in a statement Thursday that "the last thing Iraq needs is to be an arena for revenge and external battles."
The United Nations calls for restraint
For its part, the United Nations called, on Thursday, for restraint in Iraq against the background of the missile attack targeting international coalition forces at the Taji military base.
"The United Nations Mission condemns the attack, which it considers to be a major threat to Iraq," said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq and head of the "UNAMI" mission, Jenin Hennes-Blackshart, in a statement.
Blackshart called for "maximum restraint". For its part, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) has not yet held responsibility for the attack. link
**************
Courtesy of Dinar Guru https://www.dinarguru.com/
Footforward [So much stalling and kicking the can makes you wonder.] There is no stalling or kicking the can. For the first time in 15 years the can isn't getting kicked. Things are actually getting done.
Frank26 ...IMO the exchange rate is already in place. They are having meetings and talking about this. They have deep discussions about the current situation of the monetary reform of exactly where it's at right now. It's important for them. They're talking IMO about the exchange rate not the calculations of it but its implementation. The CBI is retouching bases with their banks again and is completed. And they're all on the same page. They're all on the same date. There are ongoing meetings. They're doing it right now...they're talking about the rate...they're speaking of a specific time-line and date of the redenomination...will this take a long time to accomplish? IMO no...[Reference Angel1 Post 3-10-2020]
Frank26 Russia refused to scale back on it's [oil] exports and that pissed off Saudi Arabia. And they said whatever they said to Russia...you know what Russia we told you not to mess around...Saudi Arabia says...we will increase our oil production and exports which has now given a surplus of oil in the markets causing the price of oil to go down dramatically pushing dramatically the reinstatement of the Iraqi dinar a lot faster. In order to offset this budget fund deficit...
Banks Crushed In Stock Market Crash The Fed To Increases Repo To $175 Billion A Day, Worst Is Ahead!
Silver Report Uncut: Mar 12, 2020
The stock market crash continues even after the Fed increased its liquidity provision to $175 Billion dollars a day.
Bank stocks have been getting crushed in the sell-off and the bad news is the worst days are ahead.
My concern was we would see rice hyperinflation but to my shock, there was no rice at all at the local Walmart or Sams Club. I'm glad I stocked up ahead of time. The toilet paper was gone at Walmart as panic buying has reached my area.
The crazy thing is there were two Walmarts in the area. Many suggest that they can't buy it all and they will restock soon and I want to know how can you be so sure.
The way things are developing I wouldn't expect the coming days and weeks to go well.
NBA Is Cancelled Effective Immediately, All US Flights To Europe Cancelled
Silver Report Uncut: Mar 12, 2020
The NBA has officially cancelled their season effective immediately. Many players were disappointed that this was their last game.
The US has suspended all flights to and from Europe and Other Crazy updates. The US shut down begins and cancelling the NBA is gonna cost a lot of money.