"Tidbits From TNT" Monday Morning 5-24-2021

May 24

TNT:

Tishwash: Expectations of reaching $ 80 .. Oil is rising with the recovery of major economies

Oil prices rose on Monday, as evidence mounted that the US economy is recovering quickly from the epidemic that overshadowed fears that reviving the Iran nuclear deal would lead to an increase in global supplies.

The spread of the Coronavirus in the United States has slowed further as death rates continue to decline in France and Italy, which bodes well for energy consumption.

Crude oil has risen this year as investors bet that the introduction of vaccines will turn the tide against outbreaks in major economies, however, this rally has lost some momentum since March, as new waves of infections disrupted Asian economies, at the same time, the Iranian talks are making progress. , The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies ease joint production restrictions.

West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up 0.60% at $ 63.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 05:26 GMT.

Brent added in the July settlement 0.61 percent to $ 66.76 a barrel on the European Futures Exchange.

Goldman Sachs Group said that the price hike "continues", and expected Brent crude to reach $ 80 this year even if Iranian supplies were restored, and said in a note that the recovery in developed market demand helps offset weak consumption in South Asia and America. Latin. link

Cutebwoy: ERBIL-BAGHDAD BUDGET AGREEMENT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED: ADVISOR TO IRAQI PM KADHIMI

SULAIMANI — An advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on Sunday (May 23) that the recent agreement between Baghdad and Erbil on the federal budget law will be implemented and the former does not have any will not to transfer the latter’s share.

During an appearance on NRT’s Tawtwe interview program, Hussein al-Hindawi said that Kadhimi has expressed his support to the implementation of the 2021 Federal Budget Law as it is.

He said that there are some legal obstacles in the Kurdistan Region’s budget share in the law which officials are making efforts to resolve.

On March 31, the Council of Representatives passed Iraq’s annual budget, which included a financial agreement between Erbil and Baghdad.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is supposed to receive 9.5 trillion Iraqi dinars ($6.5 billion) from the budget, which will be disbursed in monthly increments, in return for submitting 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Iraq’s oil marketer SOMO for export and a portion of the income derived from customs duties at international border crossings with Iran and Turkey.

The federal government will be able to cut off funds in the event of non-compliance.

Neither side has begun sending money or oil yet.

A delegation from the KRG is expected to visit the Iraqi capital this week to address the impasse.

ERBIL-BAGHDAD BUDGET AGREEMENT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED: ADVISOR TO IRAQI PM KADHIMI

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Cutebwoy: Iraq says $150 billion smuggled since 2003

BAGHDAD

Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Sunday that a total of $150 billion have been smuggled outside Iraq since 2003.

"Government and international statistics and data estimate that Iraq’s financial revenues from oil since 2003 are close to $1 trillion," Salih said in a televised speech on combating financial and administrative corruption.

“These illegal funds,” he said “were enough to put the country in a better place.”

The Iraqi president said he submitted a bill to the parliament to "recover” those funds and bring to justice those implicated in the corruption scheme.

Salih went on to blame corruption for hindering efforts to achieve progress in Iraq.

Iraq, the world’s third-largest oil exporter, is among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International's index with the bulk of the money lost to waste and embezzlement.

Iraq has been rocked by street protests since October 2019 over corruption and poor living conditions.

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Tishwash: Economic expert: 50 trillion dinars outside the banking belt .. And the Central Bank must take advantage of "balanced performance" to control the monetary supply

Economic expert, Raad Twaij, welcomed the launch of the Central Bank of Iraq, the Balanced Performance project, describing it as: "It is an important step in the Iraqi banking sector."

Twig said in a statement to the Iraqi National News Agency ( NINA ) that "launching the Balanced Performance Project or Quantitative Scale, which summarizes environmental, social and institutional governance standards based on a previous strategy that extended from the year 2016_2020 applied to commercial and Islamic banks, is an important step in the banking sector that will contribute to achieving Big economic goals. "

Twig called the Iraqi Central Bank to take advantage of this practice to achieve several goals, the first is to increase its control and control over cash issuance, as the cash levels indicate the presence of 50 trillion dinars outside the banking belt, and therefore it does not enter the economic cycle and it is within the framework of the hoarded monetary mass, which causes a rise in the level "General prices, which witnessed a rise in this month by 0.3%, and accordingly, this card will give the Central Bank more control and oversight of banking policies."

As for the second goal, and Tuwaij’s speech, it is to “follow the financial inclusion approach as part of the digital economy and reach the large, middle and poor segments of society, make bank accounts for them and enter the banking circle of deposits and loans, which will limit the phenomenon of hoarding and shift to alternatives in saving and investment as economic drivers. Diversifying and improving banking products to attract and attract deposits. "

He continued: "The third goal is to protect the consumer in ensuring his deposits from bankruptcy and banking manipulation."

On Sunday, the Central Bank of Iraq announced the completion of the Scorecard project for environmental, social and governance standards, in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) affiliated with the World Bank Group to address regulatory issues in the banking sector.

It should be mentioned that work on this project was started at the end of 2019, as pilot tests for the scorecard were conducted during the period (2020-2021) with the participation of all commercial and Islamic banks operating in the Iraqi banking sector. link