"Tidbits From TNT" Monday Morning 1-4-2021
TNT:
Tishwash: The Central Bank of Iraq announced on Monday its participation in the Beni Inter-Arab Payments Platform.
The Central Bank of Iraq announced on Monday its participation in the Beni Inter-Arab Payments Platform.
"The aim is to expand the scope of electronic payments," the bank said in a statement to The Twilight News.
"The platform is working to provide real-time clearing and settlement services for remittances across the borders between Arab countries and arab and international currencies, and the first movement has been implemented through banks between the UAE and the Arab Emirates and the UAE dirham currency," he said.
The Central Bank of Iraq and a number of local banks have already signed an agreement and completed the technical requirements to participate in the project in coordination with the Arab Monetary Fund and work is under way to adopt the Iraqi dinar in the system for the next phase, where the participating banks in the Arab countries will be able to send and receive payments among themselves in a safe and reliable manner, while this platform will help reduce the use of international centers of correspondent banks in clearing and settling Arab payments, which contributes to reducing the time and cost to the accompanying banks and their customers." link
Tishwash: The Central Bank of Iraq announces the launch and operation of a remittance platform
The Central Bank of Iraq announced, on Monday, the launch of the "Buna" platform for inter-Arab payments.
The bank said in a statement that "Nass" received a copy (January 4, 2021), that "in order to work to expand the scope of electronic payments, the actual launch and operation of the Bunna Inter-Arab Payments platform, which is a platform that provides real-time clearing and settlement services for transfers." Cross-border finance between Arab countries and in Arab and international currencies.
The first movement was carried out through banks between the UAE and the Arab Republic of Egypt, in the currency of the UAE dirham.
He continued, "And the Central Bank of Iraq and a number of local banks have already signed an agreement and completed the technical requirements to participate in the project in coordination with the Arab Monetary Fund, and work is underway to adopt the Iraqi dinar in the system for the next stage, where participating banks in Arab countries will be able to send and receive payments between them." In a safe and reliable manner, while this platform will help reduce recourse to international centers from correspondent banks in clearing and settling Arab payments, which will contribute to reducing the time and costs associated with banks and their customers. link
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Tishwash: Al-Rasheed Bank issues clarification on its permanence
Al-Rasheed Bank announced Monday that it will resume operations at its branches from Tuesday.
"Monday is for the purposes of the application and the closure of the bank's doors due to the time of Sunday, January 3, is an official holiday," the bank's information office said in a statement to The Twilight News.
"The bank will resume work on Tuesday to receive its customers and provide banking services," he said.
Al-Rasheed Bank announced on December 26th that withdrawals and deposits for savings accounts would be suspended until January 3, due to the end of the fiscal year and for application purposes only.
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Tishwash: Economic expert: Two reasons weakened the sale of the dollar in the Central Bank of Iraq - urgent
The economic expert, Manar Al-Obeidi, revealed, on Sunday, January 03, 2021, two reasons for the weakening of the sale of dollars in .the central bank, after the bank was selling 200 million dollars a day
Al-Obaidi said in an exclusive interview with (Baghdad Today), "The decrease in demand for the dollar in the Central Bank was the result of two factors. The first is related to the high exchange rate of the dollar compared to the Iraqi dinar, which prompted many " .merchants to refrain from purchasing goods from abroad to make sure of the current phase."
What will happen in the coming days He added that "the second reason is the decrease in the sales price, related to many banks and exchange companies that close their ".accounts and financial currencies at the end of each year for the purpose of the annual inventory or writing annual financial reports
He continued, "The country will witness a natural return to dollar sales in the central bank, but it will not return as it was at the rate of ".200 million dollars a day, but rather it will be limited to 100-115 million dollars a day The central bank’s sales decreased recently after the dollar’s exchange rate changed dramatically. After its daily sales reached $ 200 .million, it fell to less than $ 40 million per day in recent days
The economic expert, Safwan Qusay, commented on Wednesday, December 30, 2020, on the decline in central bank sales after .changing the dollar exchange rate compared to the Iraqi dinar Qusay said in an exclusive interview with (Baghdad Today), "The decline in central bank sales by nearly 70% before raising the dollar exchange rate is natural, given that import operations have greatly decreased due to the concerns of fear and trauma experienced by ".merchants
He added that "merchants and bankers, as well as citizens who own the Iraqi dinar, deliberately acquired the dollar before its price rose in the markets, and they deliberately pumped the dollar into the market after the exchange rate rose, which achieved great profits for ".them
He continued, "These traders are keeping the Iraqi dinar at the present time for fear of buying the dollar and returning its price to what ".it was in the past
Safwan pointed out that "the decline in the Central Bank's sales of dollars by approximately 70-80% than it was in the past, due to the importers’ reluctance to purchase operations due to fear of the return of the old exchange rate, with attempts to maintain the Iraqi link
Harambe: CNBC: Oil prices rise on expectations that OPEC+ likely to maintain output ... Brent Crude at $53
Oil prices rose on Monday on expectations that OPEC and allied producers may cap output at current levels in February at a meeting later in the day as the coronavirus pandemic keeps worries about first-half demand elevated.
Brent crude for March was at $52.42 a barrel, up 62 cents or 1.2%, by 0348 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for February rose 55 cents, or 1.1%, to $49.07 a barrel.
Broader macro momentum trends including a weaker dollar and investors positioning for a recovery in the oil sector this year could be supporting oil prices, Energy Aspects analyst Virendra Chauhan said.
“Maybe there is some positive sentiment from OPEC+ looking to constrain supply in light of the virus rearing its ugly head in the west,” he added.
Mohammad Barkindo, Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Sunday that while crude demand is expected to rise by 5.9 million barrels per day (bpd) to 95.9 million bpd this year, the group sees plenty of downside demand risks in the first half of 2021.
“We are only beginning to emerge from a year of deep investment cuts, huge job losses and the worst crude oil demand destruction on record,” he said.
Prices ended 2020 about 20% below 2019′s average, still recovering from the impact of global economic lockdown measures imposed to battle Covid-19 that slashed fuel demand, even though the world’s major producers agreed record output cuts through the year.
Harambe: Bloomberg: Rupiah’s Year-End Recovery Indicates Further Gains in the Offing
(1/4/20)
The Indonesian rupiah may be on the cusp of a rally. Its rebound from the worst-performing Asian currency to No. 2 in the final three months of 2020 signals potential for further gains.
The removal of U.S. election risk and supportive coronavirus vaccine developments aided the rupiah’s rise to near resistance at 13,873, its June 8 high, before it ended the year at 14,050. A Bloomberg survey shows forecasts for as high as 13,600 by the end of the first quarter.
Rupiah’s year-end rally mostly erased its annual losses but it was still Asia’s second-worst performer of 2020 after the Indian rupee. However, tailwinds for the currency are growing as Indonesia is expected to attract one of the highest inflows in Asia upon revival of global risk sentiment once the vaccine becomes widely available.
Cheung sees carry currencies or high yielders like the rupiah to be attractive as the Federal Reserve will remain “highly accommodative.”
Indonesia’s 10-year yield dropped 117 basis points in 2020, but its spread over Treasuries is still among the highest in the region. Foreign funds were net sellers of $4.7 billion of Indonesian debt last year, indicating potential for inflows as investors deploy cash early in the year.
Near-term cues for the rupiah would come from inflation data on Monday. The central bank held rates in its last review amid benign consumer prices. The median estimate in Bloomberg’s survey forecasts December inflation at 1.67% year-on-year, in line with its November reading.
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Mot: I was going to quit all my bad habits for the new year, but then I remembered that nobody likes a quitter.
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Mot: "I looked everywhere, how did you do that?" he asked.
A teenager lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a brief, fruitless search, he gave up.
His mother took up the cause and within minutes she had found the lens.
"I looked everywhere, how did you do that?" he asked.
"We weren’t looking for the same thing," she explained. "You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I, on the other hand, was looking for $150!"
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Mot: ~~~~ OUCH!!!! ~~~~~