News, Rumors and Opinions Wednesday Afternoon 3-31-2021

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Mar 31

TNT:

Tishwash: After months of controversy, the Iraqi parliament approves the 2021 budget after increasing it

The Iraqi parliament approved, on Wednesday, the draft general budget bill after months of obstruction due to controversial paragraphs that almost led to political conflicts, adding more complexity to the political scene in the country.

Parliament raised the size of the general budget for 2021 before its approval to more than 101 trillion Iraqi dinars, or about $ 69 billion, up from the government's estimate of 96 trillion Iraqi dinars.

Parliament has also raised operational expenditures, proposed by the government, to ninety trillion dinars, making the total deficit after accounting for other expenditures amounting to more than 28 trillion dinars, according to a copy of the draft budget published by the official Iraqi agency.

The government calculated the price of a barrel of oil on the basis of 42 dollars per barrel and an export rate of 3.25 million barrels per day, but Parliament calculated it at a price of up to 45 dollars, using the Iraqi currency in assessing the price of a barrel instead of the dollar, which ended a major political debate about the restoration of government support for the value of the dinar. Iraqi against the dollar.

With regard to the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the budget obliged the region to pay at least 250 thousand barrels per day of oil field production in the Iraqi region to the Iraqi government for export in exchange for paying the salaries of public employees in the region and settling the dues between the two sides "after being audited by the Office of Financial Supervision."

The Iraqi Public News Agency said, "Parliament has deleted Article 20 of the draft budget law, which deducts taxes from the salaries of ministers and parliamentarians and special grades of 40 percent for the heads of the three presidencies, the Judicial Council and their deputies, and 30 percent for ministers and deputies and those of their rank and those who receive salaries equal to their salaries, and taxes are deducted." From the salaries of employees whose monthly income exceeds one million Iraqi dinars (about $ 700) by ten percent, and "withholding" taxes on end of service and retirement benefits.

Article Twenty large sums are deducted from the salaries of special grades .. A copy of the Iraqi News Agency

Parliament removed the thirty-eighth article of the draft law, which requires ministries and government departments to open the door for investment to the private sector, and to transfer percentages of investment returns to the state treasury.

Article 38 proposed in the draft budget .. Source: Iraqi News Agency

Parliament postponed the vote on an article related to converting agricultural lands into residential land, which includes large areas of agricultural land around cities that have been unofficially converted into housing.

Parliament has removed articles 42 and 43 pertaining to allowing the government to sell residential real estate and launch tourism investments, and Article 47, which provides for the evaluation of the assets of the property of official institutions in preparation for "selling or renting them."

Parliament added new articles to the budget related to granting governors investment powers in their governorates and obligating the government to send the names of "persons assigned to the positions of heads of independent bodies, special ranks, secretaries of ministries and advisors" to the House of Representatives for approval, in what appears to be an attempt to end the system of "appointment by proxy" that allows the appointment of personalities for these positions Without a vote by Parliament. link

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KTFA:

Don961: AFTER WEEKS OF DELAY, IRAQ’S COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES PASSES BUDGET FOR 2021

SULAIMANI — After weeks of delays caused by disagreements between the political parties, Iraq’s Council of Representatives passed the Federal 2021 Budget Law on Wednesday (March 31) .

The session was scheduled for 1 p.m. but was delayed because of a lack of quorum. Voting began at 4:30 p.m. in the presence of 215 lawmakers out of 325 and concluded at 8:00 p.m.

The legislation set the price of a barrel of oil at $42, well below current Brent prices.

Among the major sticking points was the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar. The legislation set the US dollar peg at 1,450 Iraqi dinars.

After several hours of voting, lawmakers approved Article 11 of the legislation, which governs the Kurdistan Region's share.

It will receive 9.5 trillion Iraqi dinars ($6.5 billion), which will be disbursed in monthly increments, in return for submitting 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Iraq's oil marketer SOMO for export. The federal government will be able to cut off funds in the event of non-compliance.

A number of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials, including KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, were present at the Council of Representatives during the latter stages of the vote on the legislation to observe. Talabani led many of the talks aimed at hammering out the deal between Erbil and Baghdad.

Lawmakers voted against Article 20 of the law, which would have introduced an income tax on the salaries of public sector workers, or Article 38, which deals with investment. Article 41 was tabled for consideration at a later date.

Also on the agenda is the presentation of a request submitted and signed by 172 lawmakers on whether to dissolve parliament early, but the meeting concluded without taking up the measure.

Before to the session, the Shia bloc held a meeting at the house of Hadi al-Amri, the head of the Fateh Alliance, to coordinate. The Finance Committee held a separate meeting to amend some of the provisions in the draft and ready it for the vote.

The parliament’s media office said in a statement on Tuesday that the names of attendees and absences will be published publicly.

(NRT Digital Media)

This story was updated at 8:07 p.m. EBL LINK

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DCDriver: we may see the new rate after the meeting on the 7th with the United States

Godlover: May very well. I will add, the POI (President of Iraq) has up to 15 days to sign budget into law. I continue to look for what is revealed in the opening of the budget. What it is opened at, that's what it will be for the remainder of the year imo. Thank God they finally passed the budget & soon enough we will see where we stand.

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Don961: Budget 2021 .. Parliament votes on the exchange rate article, the price of a barrel of oil, and the Kurdistan share

3,496 Policy 2021/03/31 18:10
Baghdad Today - Baghdad

At the beginning of its session for this day, the Iraqi parliament voted on the first article, which included in its paragraphs the exchange rate and oil barrel in the 2021 budget, as well as Article 11 regarding the share of the Kurdistan region at a later time.

A representative source told (Baghdad Today) that "the first article that was included in the draft budget bill before the vote was a paragraph stipulating the adoption of the exchange rate of 1450 dinars against the dollar and the price of a barrel of oil was set at 45 dollars, which was voted on, which means passing these two prices."

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives ended voting on the first 11 articles in the federal budget for this year, including the Kurdistan region’s share.

The text of the Kurdistan share article

And a member of the Finance Committee, Majid Al-Tamimi, announced the vote on two important paragraphs of the 2021 Budget Law, which are currently being voted on in the Council.

Al-Tamimi said on her Facebook page, "The council voted on the 11th paragraph, which obliges the Ministry of Finance to provide the necessary financial allocations for the development and reconstruction of Sadr City."

She added that the council "also voted on Article (2 / First, Paragraph 8) concerning the petrodollar fund for the provinces producing crude oil, refined oil or gas."

Before that, Member of Parliament, Representative Hassan Khatti, said today, Wednesday, that there is a general agreement between the blocs to pass the budget at today's meeting.

Khatti said in a televised interview that she followed (Baghdad Today) that "there is a general agreement to pass the budget and to transfer the controversial materials or to keep it without a vote," noting that "the currently controversial articles are represented by the share of Kurdistan, foreign loans and the exchange rate, and the last has not yet been resolved and the voting paragraph on the exchange rate." Current postponed. "

He added that "the disputed points will be reviewed during the session and may be modified and included in the vote, and there are two tracks in the House of Representatives regarding the exchange rate. The first puts the matter in the hands of the government and the second says that Parliament is able to amend and we hope to reach an average exchange rate, and the file will be the subject of discussion in the session."

The House of Representatives began a short while ago to vote on the draft general budget bill for 2021, The Media Department of the House of Representatives stated that the parliament held a session to vote on the budget in the presence of 215.

Before that, the representative of the Saeron Alliance, Ghayeb Al-Amiri, confirmed that the country's general budget law has completely recovered and will be voted on during today's session or tomorrow, Thursday.

Al-Amiri said in a televised statement followed by (Baghdad Today), that "the draft budget that arrived in Parliament was distorted and does not represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people, but the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives made amendments to it until it reached the stage of complete recovery, and it will be voted on during the parliament session for this day." Or tomorrow, Thursday. "

He added, "The differences over the budget were related to the region’s share, and when it was resolved, political differences emerged between the Shiite and Sunni parties. They were also resolved, so that another problem appeared, which were differences between the Shiite-Shiite blocs, but all these differences reached a final agreement on it." link

Courtesy of Dinar Guru

Frank26 Question: [What happens if in 4 to 6 months Iraq calls in all 3-zero notes, will we be forced to dump them in an exchange...?] Yes. When you bought your Iraqi dinars did you get the piece of paper that said that they were going to guarantee things for you? No. That's why it's a speculative investment. You're under the program of the monetary reform of the CBI...all time frames will be given by the CBI to the citizens and they will be given to the rest of the world as well...

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March 31, 2021

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