"Tidbits From TNT" Saturday 1-29-2022

Jan 29

TNT:

Tishwash: Parliament Presidency: Monday is the date for announcing the candidates for the post of President of the Republic

The Presidency of Parliament announced today, Saturday, that next Monday will be the date for announcing the candidates for the presidency of the republic.

The presidency said that the announcement will be made after checking the CVs of the candidates for this position.

Earlier in the day, local reports indicated that the parliament's presidency is checking the names of 26 candidates for the presidency ink

Tishwash: Financial expert: The rise in oil is beneficial to the surplus revenues, but the budget remains conservative

The financial expert and former Director of the Financial Supervision Bureau, Salah Nouri, commented on the significant rise in oil prices during the past months, and its impact on the financial budget of Iraq.

Nuri told {Euphrates News}, "The rise in oil prices is variable, and it is difficult to predict them and their continuation at one rate," noting that "the direction of the Ministry of Finance is conservative."

He added: "Realistically, Brent crude differs from Iraq's oil by $9 higher than it," noting that "Finance is taking caution by adopting the price of a barrel in the budget."

And he indicated that "the rise in oil prices is very beneficial through the approved surplus revenues, but the budget remains conservative, no matter how high prices are, as it can cover economic variables

Link

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Tishwash: A deputy proposes distributing the dollar price difference funds to the Iraqis

Independent MP Mustafa Jabbar Sanad revealed today, Saturday, that the difference in changing the exchange rate of the dollar saved huge sums if distributed, the share of one citizen would have been 530 thousand dinars annually.

Sanad said in a statement received by "Earth News", that "if we redistributed the available amounts of the dollar price difference to the citizens directly and without exception, the share of one individual would be 530 thousand dinars per year."

He believed that "this is better than entering the battle of the exchange rate, which will be exploited politically by all parties and because of the distrust it causes in Iraq's investment environment and many problems in contracts, contracting, investments, creditor and debtor, in addition to the problems and benefits of speculation for the benefit of the influential."

He pointed out that "the benefit of this process is to distribute part of the money of the affluent and the rich who consumed a lot and bought expensive and luxury goods and new models, to be distributed to the poor and low-income."

Sanad indicated that “the rich and the affluent spent from 900,000 dinars to one million and 250 thousand dinars per person annually due to the change in the exchange rate, while the low-income and the poor spent at a rate of 100 thousand dinars to 250 thousand dinars per person annually due to the change in the exchange rate, while 500 thousand will be recovered. Dinars for all, so this is called the social tax, and it is an idea that embodies the concept of social justice, stimulates the economy and revives markets as they were before the exchange rate change.”

He pointed out that "the rise in the price of the dollar prevents its smuggling, and restores part of the citizen's confidence in the state," calling on the coordination framework, the Sadrist bloc, the Azm and Progress alliance, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, to adopt this proposal.

It is noteworthy that, in December 2020, the government of Mustafa Al-Kazemi reduced the value of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar from 1200 dinars to the dollar to 1450 dinars to the dollar. link

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Tishwash: A rare investment event in Iraq (1/29)

A three-month-old Iraqi startup, co-founded by a former employee of the American consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., said it has completed what could be the largest funding round ever in the emerging technology sector in Iraq.

Billy (meaning yes), which describes itself as the first super app in Iraq, offers a passenger transportation service in Baghdad and is in the process of adding new services such as food and grocery delivery.

And Bloomberg Agency said that the company received $ 10.5 million in seed funding from a group of European investors led by the German "Rocket Internet".

Bloomberg quoted a statement from Bly Inc. that the money will be used to expand the app across the country and fund other offerings, including food delivery.

"Iraq is ready for changes in the digital field, with a population of about 40 million people, and the percentage of smart phone use among people aged 17-40 years of up to more than 90 percent," said Matteo Mantovani, managing director of Blee.

Having previously worked for nearly three years at McKinsey in the UAE, Mantovani co-founded the company with a man named Munqith Al-Azzawi, previously a consultant at Rocket Internet.

Mantovani notes that "with a large youth population, Iraq is the ideal place to revolutionize the economy through digital services."

The bulk of startup activity in the Middle East is concentrated in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Bloomberg says that Iraq rarely witnesses any such investment deals, although there are some slight indications of development in this sector.

And “Bali” is a colloquial expression in the Iraqi dialect, which means “yes” in Arabic. link

Mot: -- Such Helpful insight and Advice - from Mot of course! ~~~