"Tidbits From TNT" Saturday 12-17-2022

Dec 17

TNT:

Tishwash: Iran.. The Central Bank admits the collapse of the riyal against the dollar

The Central Bank of Iran confirmed that the protests that took place in the country over the past three months caused turmoil in the money market and the collapse of the local currency (the riyal).

Ali Salehabadi, the central governor, said that the protests caused the local currency to drop in value, according to the Iranian Mehr news agency.

The Iranian currency collapsed in an unprecedented way against foreign currencies, especially the US dollar, and the price of one dollar reached 386 thousand Iranian riyals, which is the highest collapse since 1979.

Abadi added, “The reason for the rise in the price of the dollar is the recent unrest in the country.”

The Central Governor stated that the volume of transactions since the beginning of the year (the Iranian year began on March 21) until the eighth month amounted to 32.1 billion dollars, while the figure was 19.6 billion dollars in the same period last year.

In total, he added, $46.5 billion in foreign currency has been sold in the market since the beginning of this year, providing the foreign currency needed by importers.

Regarding the Central Bank's measures to control the foreign exchange market, Saleh Abadi said: Our first plan and work was to align the currency with the trade plan, and for this purpose a joint committee was formed between the Central Bank and the Ministries of Oil and Industry, and this plan will take serious measures as of Saturday to supply more desirable currencies. more.

High inflation, consumer prices and a sharp increase in foreign exchange rates in Iran are among the economic problems of Ebrahim Raisi's government.

Last Wednesday, the governor of the Central Bank, Ali Saleh Abadi, dismissed his deputy for foreign exchange affairs, Afshin Khani, due to the continuous collapse of the local currency.

Salih Abadi Mohammad Aram was appointed as Vice President of the Central Bank for Foreign Currency Affairs.

In early January, Saleh Abadi appointed Afshin Khani as his deputy head of the Central Bank for Foreign Exchange.

In a related context, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported that Afshin Khani's resignation came against the background of the continuous collapse of the local currency.

On the rise in the inflation rate at the beginning of the year, Saleh Abadi said: The generalization of subsidies, the increase in salaries in the Supreme Labor Council to 57%, and the change in the basis of customs duties caused inflation to grow in the year.

A number of Iranian parliamentarians recently demanded that the governor of the Central Bank be held accountable and interrogated against the background of the collapse and his conflicting statements regarding the increase in foreign exchange revenues due to the rise in oil exports, while the country is witnessing a collapse of the local currency. link

************

Tishwash: Parliamentary Finance: International pressure caused the dimensions of 7 private banks practicing corruption and money laundering

Baghdad - Iraq Today:

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Kojar, announced that the exclusion of banks from the Central Bank auction to sell the dollar due to the pressure exerted by the United States on Iraq to control the sale of the dollar, led to a decline in the value of the dinar against the US dollar.

Jamal Kojar said, in a press interview, that the fluctuation of the value of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar, due to two reasons, the first is the removal of 7 banks from the auction of the sale of currency to the Central Bank after 42 banks were participating in it, "due to US pressure on the Central Bank of Iraq because of corruption and money laundering," pointing to "tightening control over the 35 banks participating in the auction now" for the repercussions of the matter on the reputation of the Central Bank of Iraq and confidence in it at the international level.

The Central Bank of Iraq had issued a clarification regarding the rise in the dollar exchange rate on Thursday (December 15, 2022), in which it noted that "the rise is due to several factors, including the construction of an electronic platform through which banks raise their customers' requests."

In turn, the Iraqi government affirmed its commitment to the stability of the local market and the stability of the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, indicating that the rise in the exchange rate of the foreign currency is a temporary situation.

Jamal Kojar pointed to the drop in the price of oil by $ 20 a barrel, as another reason "that pushes the new government not to be serious about controlling the exchange rate, because it has made promises to citizens."

In this context, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee explained that an increase of 50 dinars on the exchange rate of one dollar will constitute a large amount in a budget ranging between 70-80 dollars, which is in the interest of the government, "because it cannot raise the exchange rate officially, after the Prime Minister promised earlier to reduce it, while the parties forming the government are heading to run in the provincial council elections."

"In the past there was chaos and a lot of corruption in the sale of dollars, banks provided forged documents, and some people and parties took advantage of this," he said.

Regarding the date of sending the draft budget law to the House of Representatives, he explained that there are factors that led to the delay in sending it, namely, the decrease in the price of oil by about $ 20, in addition to the fluctuation of its price, among the factors that prompted the Ministries of Planning and Finance not to send the law to Parliament so far, because "the government will be forced to fix the price of oil in the budget less than $ 10 from its original price, and the failure of Erbil and Baghdad to reach an agreement is one of the factors for delaying the budget as well."

************

CandyKisses: Al-Sudani: Our government is working on providing economic reforms that focus on improving the work environment

{Politics: Al Furat News} Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani opened, on Saturday, the work of the twenty-ninth session of the Arab Engineering Conference, which is being hosted by the capital, Baghdad.

The media office of the Prime Minister stated in a statement received by {Euphrates News}, that "the latter welcomed the convening of the Supreme Council of the Union of Arab Engineers in its seventy-eighth session in the city of Baghdad, and the government's blessing for the work of the conference held under the title {Information Society and Advanced Technologies in the Arab World} which it called It has the Iraqi Engineers Syndicate and the Arab Engineers Union.

According to the statement, the prime minister said during the opening speech, "Today we bring up history and civilization in your conference. The term engineering and the engineering mentality in a comprehensive sense means the backbone of most of the civilizations that have risen."

He added, "Engineering sciences have contributed remarkably and amazingly to the development of societies, providing better, easier and more organized life, and participating in improving aspects of services."

He continued, "The Iraqi Engineers Association, which was founded in 1959, and which is hosting your conference today, is one of the oldest professional associations in the Arab world. It has contributed significantly to professional leadership of engineering work, and has won the community's trust, making it a safe house to protect the profession and care for the interests of beneficiaries, and a center for expertise." And professional advice, and led the engineering community to be a regional and global competitor.

He explained, "At a time when I praise the role of Iraqi engineers through all the circumstances that our dear country went through, I salute their patience, adherence to their high professionalism, and their keenness to provide the best in their various fields."

Al-Sudani praised the "creative works of quite a few Iraqi figures that the world witnessed in the field of engineering," adding, "We call for them to have a distinguished role in the next stage and in the vital sectors that we referred to in our ministerial approach, which won the confidence of the distinguished parliament."

The Prime Minister affirmed that "the government is working to provide everything that achieves the optimal investment of natural and human resources through economic reforms that focus on improving the work environment and overcoming obstacles to expertise and competencies, and diversifying sources of income cannot be achieved without a clear and serious partnership with the private sector."

He concluded by saying, "I do not fail to congratulate the Supreme Council of the Union of Arab Engineers for holding their 78th meeting in the capital, Baghdad, the place where this ancient council was established, and I call on the members of the Council to take a decision to return the headquarters of the Council to the place of its foundation, so that Baghdad will embrace it again, and we will provide all forms of necessary support."

CandyKisses: CHRISTMAS IS CANCELED