"Tidbits From TNT" Friday Morning 8-6-2021

TNT:

Tishwash:  The second within hours.. an explosion targeting a convoy of the coalition in Iraq

On Thursday, unknown persons detonated an explosive device in a convoy of the International Coalition in the central province of Babylon, in the second attack of its kind within hours, according to a security source.

In a telephone conversation with "Anatolia" correspondent, Lieutenant in the Babylon Police Ali Al-Samer said that an explosive device planted on the side of the road exploded on a convoy of trucks carrying logistical equipment of the International Coalition on the highway in Babil Governorate.

Al-Samer added that the attack caused damage to a number of the wheels of one of the trucks, without causing any casualties, noting that the authorities opened an investigation into the accident.

This attack is the second of its kind within a few hours, after a bomb exploded on another convoy in the southern province of Diwaniyah, causing damage to one of the trucks, according to a security source to Anatolia.

The new attack is also the seventh of its kind within a week, after similar attacks that took place in the governorates of Diwaniyah, Dhi Qar (south) and Babil (central).

In recent weeks, attacks by missiles, drones and improvised explosive devices targeting the US embassy and coalition forces, led by Washington, have escalated across Iraq.

Washington accuses Iraqi armed factions linked to Iran of being behind the attacks targeting its embassy and bases where American soldiers are deployed in the country.   link

Tishwash:   Economist: Iraq suffers from money laundering operations

On Thursday, economist Mustafa Hantoush saw that Iraq suffers from an abundance of money laundering operations.

Hantoush said in the program Harvest Days; The process of entering political money into the electoral process in Iraq is very simple, pointing out that we have not seen anyone present a legal political program, but rather we see competition for access to positions .

he continued; The deputy is ignorant of his true duties and goes to pave the streets, leaving the legislation of important laws.

Hantoush added; The IMF was supposed to organize Iraq's economic affairs , just as Iraq is not an economically independent country because America supervises its accounts, and it is necessary to learn to conduct economic agreements with the American side and benefit from them.

felt hantoush; The implementation of the terms of the white paper needs to amend a number of laws, and we also need new minds capable of reforming the economic reality.   link

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Tishwash:  Parliamentary Finance: The 2022 budget will be an implementation of Al-Kazemi’s white paper

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Hama, said on Friday (August 6, 2021) that the draft law on the country's general federal budget for the year 2022 will be related to the implementation of the white paper announced by the government for economic reform.

 Hama stated , to  IQ News , that "legislating the 2020 budget law was very difficult due to the financial crisis, and while the 2021 budget was compensatory, the 2022 budget bill will be a practical application of the white paper."

 And he added, "The preparation of the draft budget 2022 by the Ministry of Finance will be in accordance with the terms of the white paper," noting that "there is difficulty in passing the draft law during the last months of this year in the event that early elections are held."

He added that "if the bill is delayed, the government will resort to using the Financial Management Law by disbursing 1/12 of the actual current expenditures, in order to bypass the problem of counting its approval."

And last Monday, (August 2, 2021), Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi announced the start of implementing the mechanisms of the economic reform plan within the white paper, which he saw that “this plan would rebuild the Iraqi economy in a healthy manner, achieving sustainable development for the country, and the reform plan would provide a solution.” The chronic economic management crisis, which is represented by complete dependence on oil, and the lack of diversification of sources of income   link

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Tishwash:  A new statement from the Iraqi Minister of Finance about the budget, the dollar and oil..

Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi announced that the 2022 budget, which the ministry began preparing a few days ago, will have a reform dimension, stressing that the next year's version "is different from previous budgets" and reflects "the reality of Iraq's obligations."  

  He explained in a statement followed by "Nass", Friday (August 6, 2021), that the ministry will seek to submit this new budget to Parliament before the early parliamentary elections scheduled for October, adding that it will be a "reform budget, but it may be politically difficult." 

He said that the ministry "tried in the previous budget to do a similar thing," as it "presented the budget in a way that shows officials the size of Iraq's real obligations without paying them in arrears corners, so the number was large and was not politically acceptable, so it was amended and the budget was issued" in its current form.  

By this, the minister most likely hinted at the difficulty of passing the new budget due to the high value of the deficit in it, as happened in the previous budget.

In the proposed 2021 budget bill, which the government submitted to Parliament, the value of the deficit was estimated at 49 billion dollars. But the deputies made up the difference by canceling debts and dues from the state in exchange for energy sources from the account, especially dues for Iranian gas and energy, and other payments for infrastructure.  

The value of the deficit in the 2021 budget, as approved by Parliament, amounted to 19.8 billion dollars, compared to 23.1 billion dollars in 2019, knowing that Iraq did not approve the 2020 budget due to political tension. 

The total value of revenues in the 2021 budget amounted to about 69.9 billion dollars, calculated based on the export of crude oil on the basis of a price of 45 dollars per barrel, and an export rate of three million and 250 thousand barrels per day. As for the value of the 2021 budget, it amounted to $89.7 billion, about 30% lower than the last budget approved in 2019.  

The minister explained that the price of a barrel in the new budget will be 50 dollars, which is an adjustable figure. However, the value of a barrel of oil in the market is currently much higher and exceeds sixty dollars.  

Iraq, the second largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is going through its worst economic crisis. The poverty rate in the country has doubled in 2020, and 40% of the population of 40 million is considered poor, according to the World Bank, while the Iraqi dinar has lost 25% of its value.  

Corruption, which has cost Iraq twice as much as its gross domestic product, or more than $450 billion, is the main concern of Iraqis who suffer from a lack of electricity, hospitals and schools.  

However, the minister said that Iraq's financial situation has improved this year due to "the rise in the price of oil and the change in the exchange rate of the dinar."  

Meanwhile, Iraq is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund on a loan amounting to between 3 to 4 billion dollars, as the minister explained, hoping to reach an agreement with the Fund by the end of the year.  

He explained that this "borrowing is of a monetary nature and gives credibility to the reforms" that the ministry wants to implement, and "their end depends on our current situation and the 2022 budget if we are able to present it to Parliament before the parliamentary elections."   link

Mot:  A Walmart customer recently shared this story of a cashier taking a stand against a shopper who didn't feel like following the rules.

Best moment I ever had in a Wal-Mart. I was in Colorado Springs. I had a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk and a couple of other things.

This woman whose cart was overflowing, almost runs me over to get in front of me at the 10 items line. The woman starts to unload her cart onto the checkout stand and the cashier says, ‘Which ten items would you like, ma’am?”

The woman stops and says, “What?”

The cashier responds in a calm, patient tone, “This is a ten items or less express line.”

While speaking she holds up both hands showing all ten fingers. Then she pointed to the sign above the lane which read Ten Items or Less in both English and Spanish.

The woman gets all red in the face and says, “I want all of this!”

The cashier, “Ma’am, I’m sorry. As I said, this is a ten items or less line, please choose the ten items you’d like to purchase today.”

The woman at this point lets out this noise that sounds like someone poked one of those screaming goats and shoved her still overflowing cart as hard as she could. It almost hit this little old man sitting on a bench. Then she gave all of us who were laughing at her the finger, said “F*** you!” and stormed out.

I purchased my items and tipped the cashier a $20 for the best improv comedy moment I’d seen in years.

Priceless

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Mot:  --- Uh Oh --- beeee careful fer sure!! ~~~