KTFA:

Samson:  The Turkish lira plunges to the lowest level in history

23rd September, 2021

The exchange rate of the Turkish lira fell against the dollar, today, Thursday, after the Turkish Central Bank decided to reduce interest rates.

According to Bloomberg website data, by 15:10 Moscow time, the price of the dollar row rose by 1.07% to 8.74 liras per dollar, and before that the Turkish currency recorded 8.8017 liras per dollar, the lowest level ever.

Thus, the Turkish currency hit a record low after the Turkish Central Bank unexpectedly cut its main interest rate, despite the deterioration of inflation expectations. The Turkish Central Bank decided to reduce the interest rate by 100 basis points on repurchases, "repo" for a week, to 18%. Twenty-three economists were surveyed by Bloomberg.

In the words of Bloomberg, the decision is a sign that CBE policymakers are giving in to the demands of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to lower borrowing costs. This step also threatens to undermine investors' confidence in the state's assets while eroding the real return on the lira.  LINK

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Samson:  The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announces the suspension of official working hours next Tuesday

\09/23/2021 18:11:16

  It was decided to suspend official working hours, on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, in all state departments, with the exception of service ones, coinciding with the fortieth anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him).   LINK

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Samson:  The formation of a committee of the foreign ministers of Iraq, Jordan and France in preparation for the upcoming Baghdad conference

22nd September, 2021

Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the formation of a committee of the foreign ministers of Iraq, Jordan and France in preparation for the upcoming Baghdad conference.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahaf said in a statement, “Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein chaired a meeting of foreign ministers of the participating countries to follow up on the outcomes of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, on Tuesday, 9/21/21, at the headquarters of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations in New York. And in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union.

He added, "The meeting concluded with an agreement to form a tripartite ministerial committee from the foreign ministers of Iraq, Jordan, and France to complete the preparations related to the agenda and objectives of the upcoming conference to be held in the Jordanian capital, Amman."   LINK

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Samson:  Integrity: International understandings regarding Iraqi funds smuggled abroad

23rd September, 2021

The Integrity Commission revealed, today, Thursday, all the funds recovered from the countries, while indicating that discussions are continuing to resolve the file of smuggled funds.

Moataz Faisal Al-Abbasi, Director General of the Authority's Recovery Department, said that "the conference for the recovery of the stolen funds came out with a set of recommendations to serve the work of recovering the funds."

He explained, "The meeting was held with personalities from the countries with which Iraq has files and ongoing discussions with them, as a semi-agreement was reached to resolve these files," noting that "the matter requires cooperation between the judicial authorities and procedures to resolve these files and arrange them legally." He added that "the files were arranged by the Integrity Commission to be submitted to countries," noting "the commission's need for government support in order to pressure and fulfill these requests."

Al-Abbasi confirmed, that “the total amount of the recovered funds amounted to 18 million dollars,” noting that “there are funds that the courts issued a seizure decision regarding, and they were claimed, as their values ​​amounted to (2) billion dollars, in addition to amounts seized in countries whose values ​​amount to up to 4 billion dollars."   LINK

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Samson:  Washington: We are committed to supporting Iraq's efforts to implement the white paper on economic reforms

23rd September, 2021

US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller highlighted, Thursday, September 23, 2021, the projects supported by the American Development Finance Corporation to improve access to finance in Iraq, during a welcome speech at the Iraq Finance Fair, which was held on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.

In a statement received by Al-Masala, the US embassy said that the US Agency for International Development has provided more than (8) million dollars in loans since 2015 to help small and medium-sized enterprises recover from the war against ISIS

The ambassador noted the US government's cooperation with the Ministry of Finance in the new financial transparency initiative to strengthen open budget procedures and improve public access to budget documents, including state-owned companies

He pointed out the importance of the private sector, given that the three state-owned banks own about 85% of the total deposits

And he indicated that the United States is committed to supporting Iraq's efforts to implement the White Paper on economic reforms and build a vibrant and developed economy that provides job opportunities in the private sector  LINK