Some "Thursday News" Posted by Samson at KTFA 9-16-2021

KTFA:

Samson:  Oil prices rise as US inventories fall further

16th September, 2021

Oil prices jumped on Thursday, extending their strong gains the previous day, after a larger-than-expected decline in crude oil inventories in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer, while Brent rose

Brent crude rose 18 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $75.64 a barrel by 05:20 GMT, after settling at a 2.5 percent gain the previous day. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 18 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $ 72.79, after settling up 3.1 percent on Wednesday

US crude and fuel stocks fell sharply last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, as US Gulf region refineries and offshore oil facilities continue to recover from Hurricane Ida

The Energy Information Administration said crude stocks fell by 6.4 million barrels in the week to September 10 to 417.4 million barrels

The storm cut global supply for the first time in five months, but the market is set to start approaching balance in October as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia, a group called OPEC+, implement plans to increase supply   LINK

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Samson:  Iraq reveals the recovery of $38 million "smuggled" from three countries

16th September, 2021

The Deputy Head of the Iraq Funds Recovery Fund, Moataz Al-Abbasi, revealed on Thursday that about $38 million in Iraqi funds were recovered abroad.

The Iraqi capital, Baghdad, is hosting the work of the second day of the International Conference for the Recovery of Stolen Funds and Smuggled Assets, under the auspices of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, with wide international participation.

Al-Abassi told Shafaq News Agency, "The fund owns files related to individuals and not to a state, and there is the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and the Arab World Anti-Corruption Convention, both of which include texts and a mechanism for how to obtain and recover the looted funds and return them to the state treasury."

He added that "during the period of its establishment, the fund was able to recover funds from some countries, including 65 thousand dollars from Jordan, 25 million and 942 thousand dollars from Germany, while 11 million and 915 thousand euros were recovered from Spain." LINK

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Samson:  Egypt: We will not hesitate to help Iraq recover its looted money

16th September, 2021

The Egyptian Minister of Justice, Omar Marawan, confirmed that his country's government will not hesitate to help Iraq by recovering its looted money if it is in Egypt

"The money recovery conference that was held (yesterday) in Baghdad is important to discuss an issue that concerns all peoples and Arab countries, which is the issue of recovering looted funds, that is, the people's money smuggled abroad," Marwan said in a statement reported by Rudaw and seen by "Al-Iqtisad News. He added that the importance of the conference comes from the fact that it "attempts to find mechanisms that activate the joint Arab cooperation, so that it returns the smuggled looted funds and returns those involved with these funds so that they may be tried in a fair trial for the crimes they committed against their peoples and countries

The Egyptian Minister of Justice stressed that any "looted money found in" Egypt, the government, will not hesitate to assist the brotherly State of Iraq in recovering their money, and we will not delay in helping it

Yesterday, Wednesday, the International Conference for the Recovery of Stolen Funds was launched in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. At the opening of the conference, Minister of Justice Salar Abdul Sattar Muhammad said, "The conference for the recovery of looted funds aims to confront the theft of public money," adding that "there is weakness in international efforts regarding the recovery of looted funds

According to the Minister of Justice, just as Iraq succeeded in eliminating terrorism, "we have to confront corruption," stressing "the need to recover the looted funds through international agreements.

Muhammad pointed out that "our meeting today is an important message that recovering the looted funds is of interest to the state," revealing the government's determination to recover all of Iraq's money from abroad

In turn, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, described corruption and terrorism as "two sides of the same coin," noting that corruption was present when society was plunged into sectarian fighting. The Prime Minister considered that "the path to a rational state begins with frankness with our people about the diseases that led to the decline of a great country like Iraq," adding that "we set from the beginning our primary goal in fighting corruption

According to Al-Kazemi, he formed a "special anti-corruption committee that carried out its duty with the Integrity Commission, the judicial authorities, and the Ministry of Justice and Financial Control," stressing that "the committee revealed, within one year, corruption files that were not revealed for 17 years, and recovered money looted from abroad. According to Al-Kazemi, the committee was subjected to "attacks and false accusations, the aim of which was to frustrate it and thwart its work," stressing that "there is no place for frustration and retreat

For his part, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, considered the conference to recover looted funds an "important opportunity to combat corruption. According to Aboul Gheit, "the most important achievement achieved is an Arab anti-corruption agreement in 2010," adding that the Arab anti-corruption agreement was formed in support of the United Nations convention. He pointed out that "confronting corruption is very complex and requires continuous cooperation

To that, the head of the Integrity Commission and the head of the looted funds recovery fund, Alaa Jawad, considered the conference an "important step to recover Iraq's money," expressing his hope that the conference would lead to "recommendations to return the looted funds. Jawad accused that "some countries are incubators and stand an obstacle in returning the looted funds," adding that "Iraq is still suffering from the lack of cooperation of countries in recovering the money," adding that "dual citizenship is resorted to by some officials with investment and corruption    LINK

Samson:  The Central Bank clarifies the mechanism for granting loans and financing projects, and its procedures to prevent the circulation of counterfeit currency

16th September, 2021

Thursday, The Central Bank of Iraq clarified the mechanism for financing project loans, pointing to the development of measures to prevent the circulation of counterfeit currency.

An authorized source in the bank said, according to what was reported by the official newspaper, that "the competent committee is setting up a mechanism for granting loans, directing the lending policy to support small, medium and large projects in a way that serves the goals of economic development in Iraq, and approving development projects submitted by banks that aim to (reduce import of imports). goods and products, providing a greater number of job opportunities for young people, and establishing a developed local industry).

He added, "Our policy supports and encourages the establishment of industrial and agricultural cities to diversify sources of income in the Iraqi economy, and works to simplify the procedures for approving the establishment of projects subject to the approval of the relevant government agencies." 

He continued: "This committee is also working to review the lending mechanisms and guidance on modifying them according to the requirements of the economic and financial conditions that the Iraqi economy is going through, and the committee has the power to host representatives from the private sector to participate in its meetings and form technical teams to discuss the implementation of loans."  Regarding the priorities of granting the loan for strategic projects and whether loans are limited to projects with an investment dimension.

Regarding the measures of the Central Bank of Iraq to prevent the circulation of counterfeit currency and to coordinate with the security authorities to monitor the promoters of counterfeit currency, the source said: “The Issuance and Treasury Department in the Central Bank of Iraq is working through the (Currency Examination and Counterfeiting Monitoring) section to intensify cooperation and coordination with the security and judicial authorities to limit Counterfeiting operations, monitoring everything related to them through the media, following up on the news of the relevant authorities and categorizing them in a database to benefit from when needed.

And he indicated that "the bank is working on preparing statistics and reports on the counterfeit papers received by this bank and analyzing them to identify the target groups and the places where counterfeiting operations are likely to occur and the parties that practice them and provide the competent authorities with information." The security signs of real papers and how to detect forgery of papers in cooperation with the security and judicial authorities within a program prepared for this purpose.   LINK

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Samson:  The Central Bank of Iraq and Renewable Energy Support in Iraq

16th September, 2021

The Central Bank of Iraq organized a workshop to support the use of renewable energy sources in Iraq.

The workshop discussed the opportunities for using renewable energy generation methods and the contribution of the Central Bank's initiative to finance it in a way that contributes to strengthening the national economy.

In a speech during the workshop, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank stressed that this bank is committed to enriching and supporting Iraq's economy by adopting initiatives that contribute to reducing waste in state funds and leaving dependence on traditional sources in generating electricity.

The deputy governor added that banks and insurance companies should actively contribute to providing the best offers to citizens in the field of energy, with their efforts to educate consumers about the preference of renewable energy in terms of costs, and the preservation of the environment.

The head of the Central Agency for Standardization and Quality Control and the Director of the Baghdad Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainability presented their papers on this important subject. The workshop was attended by representatives of banks, insurance companies and a number of investors and those interested in this matter.

It is noteworthy that the Central Bank launched an initiative to finance the acquisition of energy production units from renewable sources in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and the Higher Committee for Lending through the banking sector.   LINK