"Tidbits From TNT" Saturday 5-27-2023

May 27

TNT:

CandyKisses: Parliamentary Finance confirms the readiness of the budget and its handover today to the Presidency of Parliament for the purpose of voting on it

The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced today, Saturday, that the budget will be ready to be handed over to the Presidency of Parliament for the purpose of voting on it, after completing some transfers in the financial aspects and amending the schedules.

Committee member Moeen Al-Kazimi said in a press statement followed by NRT Arabia, that "the region's share in the budget was voted on in Articles 13 and 14 after an amendment was made to the budget version sent by the government, despite the objection of the Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc.

Noting that "as the committee has completed all the articles of the 67th budget, and today, Saturday, some transfers are completed with the financial aspects and the schedules are amended, and the budget will be ready to be handed over to the Presidency of Parliament for the purpose of voting on it."

Al-Kazimi added that "there is no adjustment to the region's share in the budget, and it remained as it came from the government 12.67%), pointing out that "the amendment was added to the scenario of distributing oil exports from the region, which is that Iraq has an export share of 3 and a half million barrels per day of oil, so the region's share is 400 thousand barrels and the rest of the provinces export 3 million and 100 thousand barrels."

He explained, "The signing of oil contracts with companies is carried out by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and not the territorial government, and this is what has been confirmed by the Federal Court and the Arbitration Committee in Paris," continuing that "oil revenues from the four companies operating in the region will be deposited into the Central Bank account in the name of the Ministry of Finance, and the Federal Prime Minister will authorize the Prime Minister of the region to disburse, and the region's share will be transferred to the bank account provided by the regional government."

Al-Kazimi indicated that "a paragraph has been added, which is that the region has no right to export oil from Nineveh wells or Kirkuk and other materials that control accounts with the region, and there are provisions for non-oil revenues and their delivery to the federal government," adding that "there is another article related to the amounts that the territorial government was deducted from the salaries of its employees as compulsory savings, so the law included an article that forces the territorial government to pay this saving and return it to employees and its percentage of 10% of the salary monthly, until the employees of the region complete their entitlements from the compulsory savings exercised on them during the previous period."

In addition, committee member Jamal Cougar noted that "the budget can be handed over to the presidency of parliament tomorrow, Sunday, because there are paragraphs that have not yet been completed, which are transfers, schedules, the issue of some additional paragraphs and the overall vote on the budget within the committee."

On Friday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee announced the completion of voting on the most important dilemma in the federal budget, which is the share of the region despite the objection of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and only a few simple paragraphs in the tables and transfers remain for the committee, which need about 24 hours.

The Finance Committee is likely to hand over the draft budget to the Presidency of the House of Representatives tomorrow, Sunday, to be included on the agenda.

https://www.nrttv.com/ar/detail3/12188

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Tishwash: Mazhar Salih: Restoring confidence in the Iraqi dinar is a national necessity

Experts and consultants in financial and economic affairs saw that the governmental procedures and the steps of the Central Bank of Iraq regarding limiting the obligation of ministries and state institutions to pay wages for goods and services in Iraqi dinars and urging merchants and companies to do so, are likely steps to restore confidence in the country's national currency, indicating that the market's linkage to two currencies, one of which is foreign, undermines The state of stability and generates turmoil in the market.

And the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Dr. Mazhar Muhammad Salih, stated in an interview with “Al-Sabah” that “pricing in the currency of another (foreign) country subjects the general level of prices to market disturbances and speculators, and thus deprives the monetary authority from exercising the power of stability according to Central Bank Law No. 56 of 2004.

He pointed out, "The government took the decision to deal in the Iraqi dinar with what was announced by the monetary authority insisting that it be the unit of payment, value, and the unit of legal dealing in internal transactions, and no other currency is considered in Iraq except in the Iraqi dinar, while foreign currency is for the purpose of external transactions only."

Salih noted that "dealing in foreign currency depends on monetary policy and the general level of prices depends on market speculation. On this basis, the supremacy of the national currency and its defense through monetary policy is the only right platform for monetary stability and keeping monetary income away from the forces of conflict."

He explained that "the existence of two currencies in one economy is dangerous, and it means that monetary policy is given with all its components and influence in the national economy through a currency other than the country's currency, so the decision came to not consider any monetary unit except in the Iraqi dinar in order to impose monetary stability in transactions, contracts, payment and receipt, and distancing."

The introduction of any hybrid currency in economic transactions, which is the legal monetary unit adopted in linking price stability and the stability of the value of the national currency without being disturbed by foreign currencies entering the economy.

In addition, the expert on economic affairs, Nabil Jabbar Al-Ali, said in an interview with "Al-Sabah": "Because of the shake-up of confidence that the Iraqi dinar has gone through among traders since the end of the year 2020 until this moment, the central bank administration and the government are restoring the reputation of the Iraqi dinar." ".

He added, "The sudden change in the exchange rate in December 2020 and the broad government promises at the time of several benefits regarding that decision and the failure to implement any of them, affected many commercial transactions and raised inflation by a high rate and the inflation of the exported cash until it became difficult to control the stability of the currency, which prompted many to The belief that the dinar has become an unreliable currency because of these fluctuations in government policies.

He pointed out that "the Central Bank administration is trying today to work to re-strengthen the status of the Iraqi dinar and its stability in front of currencies in order to stabilize the markets and end the state of turmoil, as well as reduce inflation rates and reduce their damage to the incomes of Iraqis." link

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Tishwash: International agency: The dollar is losing its hegemony over time, and everyone is uniting against it..Is its collapse approaching?

Rivalry with China, fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine and debate in Washington over the US debt ceiling have led to a rethinking of the dollar's place as the world's dominant currency.

The use of the dollar as a weapon to punish Russia has also fueled speculation that countries will diversify their portfolios away from the dollar.

Here are some arguments for why de-dollarization has occurred - or perhaps why it has not.

The share of the dollar is declining

The dollar's share of official foreign exchange reserves fell to a 20-year low of 58% in the last quarter of 2022, according to IMF data.

What happened in 2022 was a very sharp decline in the share of the dollar in real terms,” said Stephen Jane, CEO of Eurizon SLJ Capital Limited, adding that this was a reaction to the freezing of half of gold and currency reserves. Russia's foreign exchange of $640 billion in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This made countries like Saudi Arabia, China, India and Turkey tend to diversify their reserves into other currencies.

The dollar's share of central banks' foreign reserves in the fourth quarter of 2022 reached its lowest level in two decades, but the move was gradual and is now at about the same level as in 1995.

However, central banks hold dollars in case they need to support exchange rates during economic crises. If their local currencies weaken too much against the dollar, oil and other commodities traded in US currency become very expensive, increasing the cost of living and fueling inflation.

The dollar held sway over commodity trade, allowing Washington to block market access for producing countries from Russia to Venezuela and Iran.

But the situation has changed now. Where India buys Russian oil in UAE dirhams and rubles. Meanwhile, China turned to the yuan to buy $88 billion worth of Russian oil, coal and minerals. CNPC and France's Total (EPA:TTEF) completed their first yuan-denominated LNG trade in March.

De-dollarization... is a complicated matter

De-dollarization would require a vast and complex network of exporters, importers, currency dealers, debt issuers and lenders to independently decide on the use of other currencies. But this is not likely in the near future.

The Bank for International Settlements said that about half of countries' total foreign debts are in dollars, and half of world trade is settled in dollars.

"There is no mechanism to get banks, companies and governments to simultaneously change their behavior away from the dollar," said Barry Eichengreen, a professor of economics and political science at Berkeley.

The dollar.. an unshakable foundation

Since large bank deposits are not always insured, companies use government bonds as an alternative to cash. Thus, the dollar's position is supported by the $23 trillion US treasury market - seen as a safe haven for money.

“The depth, liquidity, and integrity of the treasury market is a big reason the dollar is the leading reserve currency,” said Brad Setser, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who tracks cross-border currency flows.

International holdings of Treasuries are vast and there is no reliable alternative yet. The bond market in Germany, for example, is relatively small, at just over $2 trillion.

Commodity producers may agree to trade with China in yuan, but recycling cash into Chinese government bonds remains difficult due to account opening difficulties and regulatory uncertainty.

continued dominance

Moody's said that the increasing geopolitical tensions and brinkmanship pursued by the United States have fueled speculation about ending the dominance of the dollar, but there are no current viable alternatives.

Moody's said in a note that despite the continuous decline in the dollar's share of central bank reserves, the dominance of the US dollar over the international trade and finance systems will continue for decades despite new challenges, even if a multipolar currency system emerges.

Analysts of the rating agency said that the greatest risk to the dollar's position comes from the risks arising from the mistakes of US policy itself, such as the US default on its debts, for example, expecting that the dollar's share of reserves will continue to decline further. link

Mot: .... Ahah - Leave it to the Bus Driver!!! ~~~~