KTFA:

Samson:  The Presidency of the Iraqi Republic reimposes permanence by 100%

29th November, 2020

The Presidency of the Republic of Iraq decided to completely re-impose official working hours in all its departments, starting from the beginning of next month.

According to an official letter appended to the signature of the Director General of the Administrative Department in the Presidency of the Republic, Hershoe Taher Aziz, the official working hours for all Presidency employees will be 100% as of Tuesday, 1-12-2020.

The Iraqi government had decided to resume official working hours in state departments and institutions after easing the restrictions it imposed with the outbreak of the epidemic in the country.
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Samson:  How much does parliament need to approve the 2021 budget and what will happen to its first month's salaries?

1/29/2020 17:12:40

The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed, on Sunday, the time period for approving the federal budget for the year 2012, while commenting on the fate of employees' salaries for the month of January.

A member of the committee, Ahmed Hajj Rashid, told Al-Furat News that "the government was slow in sending the draft budget for 2021, and Parliament needs a full month to pass the law." Rasheed held the government "responsible for securing the salaries of employees and the lack of services for citizens by delaying sending the budget law to the parliament."

 He also called on the government to "process January salaries and secure them through oil money, especially after the rise in prices, and postpone other obligations," describing the salaries as "the red line and the engine for the local market."

Regarding the SOMO company, Rasheed said, "According to the company's data, the government gets more than $ 3.5 billion a month, which is sufficient to secure salaries," noting that "the government is deliberately reluctant to obtain funds for other sectors." According to him,  Rashid concluded, "There are no final accounts for the year 2020 because the budget was not approved."   LINK

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Samson:  Parliamentary Finance reveals the volume of money smuggled outside Iraq and calls for use from it to repay the loans

19:41 - 11/28/2020

The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed, on Saturday, the amount of money smuggled outside Iraq, while calling on the government to make use of it in bridging loans.

The committee's reporter, Ahmed Al-Saffar, said in a statement to "the information", that "the volume of smuggled and frozen funds outside Iraq reached 500 billion dollars," noting that "this number is large and can be used in many aspects."

He added that "the move to recover that money has become a necessity and the government must act with it quickly," calling on "the government to move internationally to return these funds and benefit from them by resolving the financial crisis and filling the debts owed by Iraq because of the loans that were withdrawn for salaries during the past months."

A member of the Parliament's Integrity Committee, Alia Nassif, confirmed that there is a need for government action to retrieve the frozen and smuggled funds outside Iraq, explaining in a press briefing that her committee does not have accurate statistics of the value of smuggled money.

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Samson:  The United Nations expresses its position on the recent events in Iraq

29th November, 2020

The United Nations Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) expressed on Sunday its condemnation of the violence that accompanied the storming of the protest squares in the southern regions of the country.

The mission expressed, in a statement today, its regret for the loss of life and the casualties among the Iraqi demonstrators.

She called for all parties to remain calm, urging at the same time the authorities to do their utmost to protect peaceful demonstrators and ensure that the perpetrators of violence are held accountable.

A number of Tishreen protesters were killed and dozens were wounded when gunmen from the Sadrist movement accompanied by members of the security forces dispersed the sit-in squares on Friday and Saturday in the cities of Nasiriyah and Kut, in southern Iraq.  LINK

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Samson:  Western Iraq .. Opening of an international road that has been closed for nearly 6 years

28th November, 2020

The commander of Anbar Operations, Major General Nasser Al-Ghanem, directed, on Saturday, to reopen the bridge linking the international highway and the old road that has been closed since 2014.

Al-Ghannam said in a statement received by Shafaq News, that “We issued orders to lift the dirt mounds and open the bridge linking the international highway with the old road, specifically the 18th kilometer to facilitate the movement of wheels after it was closed since 2014 to facilitate the movement of citizens to the old road from km 18 instead of going to km 35".

He added, "We will spare no effort to support the citizens of Anbar Province."   LINK

Samson:  America and Kuwait support an Iraqi government "free from malign influence"

28th November, 2020
In a joint statement, the United States and Kuwait called for the need for "unity" and for resolving the dispute between the Gulf states.

The fourth US-Kuwaiti strategic dialogue statement touched on Kuwait's efforts to preserve the stability of Iraq, pointing to its emphasis on the importance of "the existence of a stable Iraqi government free of malign influence."

"This is a clear goal for both Kuwait and the United States, and we support the ongoing meetings of the Supreme Ministerial Committee between Kuwait and Baghdad, and return the remains of the victims of the Gulf War, stressing the sovereignty of Iraq and territorial integrity," he added.

The United States opened the fourth strategic dialogue with Kuwait, and launched a series of bilateral working groups.

Over the course of two weeks, issues related to "politics, human rights, development, education, scientific cooperation, security, consular protection, customs, border protection, trade, investment and defense" were discussed.

The dialogues ended with a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed, in Washington on the 24th of this month.  LINK

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 Samson:  Turks Buying Gold ... Deepens The Losses Of The "Lira"

29th November, 2020

The decline of the lira over the past year pushed the Turks to rush to buy gold, and the prevailing desire among Turks now to buy gold bars is a burden on the lira, which is resisting for the sake of recovery and raising its value against the dollar.

In the two weeks since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cleansed the leadership positions that were blamed for failing to stabilize the lira and depleting reserves, Turkish retail and corporate investors added $ 2.2 billion to their gold holdings, raising it to $ 36.4 billion, according to central bank data. 

The Turks do not let their enthusiasm for owning gold despite the historical shift in the lira and the drop in bullion prices this month, but since gold imports now represent most of the current account deficit, the purchases stand in the way of fixing Turkey's external imbalances even as the authorities adopt a form Increasingly, the market-friendly approach that foreign investors crave.

“We see steady demand from local investors for gold even when global prices rise - unattractive deposit rates and distrust of the lira are the main reasons behind the demand,” Dogukan Cicek, executive director of business development at Troy Precious Metals in Istanbul, told Bloomberg. “The decline in global gold prices is also seen as an opportunity for those who believe that the journey to gold is far from over.”

Turkey is one of the largest consumers of gold in the world: 

Turkey is one of the largest consumers of the precious metal around the world. Turks use gold as protection in times of devaluation and inflation and traditionally gift it to events from weddings to circumcision ceremonies.

Local investors are flocking to buy foreign currencies along with gold.

Hard currency deposits increased 34.5 billion dollars to record 228.2 billion dollars this year.

Turks added $ 3.94 billion to their foreign currency savings through November 20

Buying the best gold despite its declining prices:

It is difficult to change local customs associated with the acquisition of gold even after the lira rose by more than 10% in the week following the ouster of the central bank governor and the resignation of Erdogan's son-in-law as finance minister. However, the currency has grown less stable in recent days, even after the central bank raised interest rates by the most in more than two years and took other measures to calm the lending boom.

The Turkish currency has lost 25% this year, making it the second worst performing in emerging markets after the Argentine peso. While gold fell in November, after falling for three consecutive months, it is still up about 19% this year after hitting a record high in August. Compared to the lira's decline, the precious metal provided local investors with better returns than bonds

The demand for gold purchases is not only increasing from investors, as the Turkish Central Bank continues to accumulate its gold reserves, which raised its holdings to their highest level ever last month. According to Istanbul Stock Exchange data, Turkey's gold imports are on the way to the largest amount since 2017.

The challenge facing Erdogan and his new economic team is to keep people away from gold and instill confidence in the lira. “Asking for gold means increasing demand for foreign currencies by buying it,” said Evrin Kerikoglu, an independent market strategist in Istanbul. "It is one of the obstacles to the rise in the value of the lira."  INK