Some "Wednesday News" Posted by Samson at KTFA 12-22-2021

KTFA:

Samson: Al-Rafidain Bank stops withdrawals and deposits, starting from Thursday

22nd December, 2021

Al-Rafidain Bank announced, on Wednesday, the suspension of withdrawals and deposits from savings accounts, starting from tomorrow, Thursday, corresponding to 12/23/2021, until Monday, corresponding to 3/1/2022.  

And the bank’s media office explained in a statement that “Nas” received a copy of it (December 22, 2021), that “the suspensions come in order to pay the annual accounts and calculate the interests of savings accounts, as well as organizing budgets.”  

The bank also decided, “to close the doors of all its branches on Sunday, 2/1/ 2022, for the purpose of paying the annual accounts and for implementing the bank’s accounts that are applicable every year.”    LINK

Al-Rafidain Bank stops withdrawals and deposits as of tomorrow  LINK

For 10 days… Al-Rafidain suspends withdrawals and deposits from savings accounts  LINK

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Samson:  Including Iraq.. Statistics of Arab countries’ gold reserves

12/22/2021 14:50:12

The year 2021 witnessed severe fluctuations in global stock exchanges and markets, including gold contracts, in light of the Corona virus crisis and its repercussions on economic activities.

Gold is a safe haven, especially in times of crisis, as many people tend to buy it to hedge against inflation, and in the past two years, gold prices have risen in light of the Corona virus crisis and its consequences.

The World Gold Council recently published its report for the month of December 2021, which is the final report for the year 2021, which showed that the reserves of the central banks in the world amounted to 35582.3 tons of the metal, and the reserves of the central banks of the Arab countries of the precious metal constituted about 3.85% of the total global reserves.

Iraq ranked fifth with gold reserves of 96 tons and 400 kg of gold.  LINK

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Samson:  Al-Samarrai calls on the Ministry of Finance to establish a sovereign fund

22nd December, 2021

The winning candidate, Muthanna Abdul Samad al-Samarrai, called on the Iraqi government, today, Wednesday, to establish a sovereign fund under the name of the Generations Fund with the same value as the deduction amount for previous compensation for Kuwait.

Al-Samarrai said in a tweet on “Twitter”, which was followed by Alsumaria News, that “it is time to work to protect the future of generations, after we got rid of debt by completing the last batch of compensation for Kuwait“.

 And he added, “Under the Financial Management Law, I invite Ministry of Finance And the Iraqi government to establish a sovereign fund with the same value as the deduction amount for previous compensation annually, with the same mechanism followed, under the name “Generation Fund”. LINK

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Samson:  Integrity arrests 3 employees of the Agricultural Bank in Mosul on cases of financial embezzlement

22nd December, 2021

A security source in Nineveh stated, on Wednesday, the arrest of three employees of the Agricultural Bank in the city of Mosul on charges of embezzlement.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, “A security force from the Integrity Commission arrested today three employees of the Accounts Division of the Agricultural Bank, against the background of embezzlement operations that occurred in the bank’s fund.”

And he indicated that “the integrity matched a number of financial sums and found a financial shortage, which revealed the embezzlement that occurred, and as a result the three employees were arrested for investigation.”

It is worth noting that the Nineveh Integrity Commission, during this year, dismantled a network of more than 10 individuals who were involved in corruption and tampering with official records in the Real Estate Registration Department in Mosul.

Arrest orders continued in cases of manipulation of state real estate, as well as the seizure of financial and administrative corruption in other government departments, the latest of which was the issuance of two arrest warrants against the mayor of Mosul, Zuhair Al-Araji, on charges related to corruption in the residential land file.  LINK

Samson:  Al-Kazemi’s advisor : $5 billion – the size of Iraq’s debts to the World Bank and the IMF

22nd December, 2021

Today, Wednesday, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, determined the size of Iraq’s debts to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund

Saleh said, to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “there is no accurate number of the size of the debt owed by Iraq to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, because the balance moves in decrease with the payment of the debt package (the installment) in addition to the annual interest, but it does not exceed 5-6 billion dollars

He added, “The loans of the World Bank in particular are long-term and have grace periods of about 6 years, which often extend to about 14 years, and the interests on them are moderate, as they are similar to the interest of the London markets on dollar lending transactions (Liber) in addition to a simple additional percentage representing the bank commission  LINK

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Samson:  China imposes sanctions on 4 US officials 

21st December, 2021

The Chinese government announced today, Tuesday, the imposition of sanctions on four US officials after their comments on the human rights and religious freedom situation in Xinjiang.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, Zhao Lijian we are taking action against four people from a committee United State International Religious Freedom..its President Nadine Mainza, and her deputy Nuri Turkel its two members are Anorima Bhargava and James W. Carr“.  LINK

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Samson:  Report: Qatar seeks to invest $10 billion in US ports

22nd December, 2021

Three financial sources told Reuters that Qatar plans to invest at least $10 billion in US ports and has approached international banks for help with financing.

Middle Eastern and Western sources familiar with the matter told the agency that Doha aims to invest in ports around the eastern coast of the United States, which are expected to be developed in stages, adding that the plan is in an initial stage.

The country’s sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar’s Government Communications Office declined to comment to Reuters. “The Qataris have been preparing for nearly a year to test the waters for investing in American ports,” said Michael Frodel, a US-based consultant familiar with Qatar’s strategy.

“We think a smart investor with $10 billion would want to put it into US port infrastructure on the underserved East Coast first and foremost,” he added. He added that “the west coast is receiving all the attention of the US government and the private sector, while on the east coast, improvements are long overdue.”

A source based in the Middle East said that Qatar was in early discussions with banks to search for a structural advisor, and two of the sources said that the banks contacted included “Morgan Stanley” and “H. AC. with me. C and Credit Suisse.   LINK