"Tidbits From TNT" Saturday 8-27-2022

Aug 27

TNT:

Tishwash: BI choosing banks, payment actors for disbursing digital rupiah

Later, the millennials can do a (purchase through the) metaverse (platform) from their digital account using digital rupiah.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Bank Indonesia (BI) is currently in the process of selecting the most reliable banking and payments system players for the task of distributing digital currency or digital rupiah.

At the 16th Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking (BMEB) International Conference here on Thursday, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said that the issuance of digital rupiah as a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and the state’s legal tender has been mandated by the Constitution and the BI’s regulation.

Globally, there are two options that have been implemented by various countries for distributing digital currency.

The first one involves the central bank solely focusing on distributing digital currency systemically using the wholesale scheme. Meanwhile, the second option involves giving the mandate to banking and payments system companies to distribute the CBDC through the retail scheme.

The BI Governor said that the bank has decided to distribute the digital rupiah through a retail scheme, meaning the digital currency will be disbursed by BI only to large banks and payments system companies.

Meanwhile, other central banks around the world have tended to choose both schemes, he noted.

"The distribution platform (of the digital rupiah) will use the Distributed Ledger Technic (DLT) blockchain, thus the designated banks will have two accounts, a digital account and a standard account,” he informed.

Hence, only selected banks or payments system companies will receive digital rupiah from BI through their respective DLT blockchain accounts, he added.

Currently, BI is striving to develop the ecosystem for supporting the use of the digital rupiah, including preparing to issue the digital currency, building a digital rupiah platform, as well as selecting distributors.

Thus, in the future, the younger generation will have two accounts at banks and payments system companies—regular accounts and digital accounts, Warjiyo said.

"We will implement it. Later, the millennials can do a (purchase through the) metaverse (platform) from their digital account using digital rupiah," he added. link

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

Tishwash: The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament: We have 80 trillion dinars, a suspended financial surplus

The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, warned of upcoming economic crises that Iraq will face if the political crisis continues in the country and the constitutional institutions are disrupted.

Al-Halbousi and during his participation in a feminist celebration in Baghdad; He stressed that there is an 80 trillion Iraqi dinars (50 billion dollars) financial surplus over the revenues of oil exports for the current year, which are frozen and cannot be spent due to the failure to approve the 2022 budget.

Al-Halbousi added; The Financial Management Law, which will continue to manage the country’s financial affairs in an emergency, in the event that the budget for the year 2023 is not approved, will not allow any additional financial spending, which will put the country in front of major economic crises in the year 2022. link

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

Tishwash: Analysts: Dissolving the Iraqi Parliament is an "urgent necessity" to calm the political crisis

raqi analysts considered the dissolution of parliament an "urgent necessity" to avoid escalation in the country, at a time when an analysis published by the European Council on Foreign Relations concluded that holding new early elections in Iraq was futile just because the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, wanted it.

The analysis indicated that proceeding with this step would lead to the erosion of what remained of democracy in the country and to the consolidation of corrupt parties.

At the same time, an Iraqi political analyst suggested that early elections may be the only solution after the current crisis in the country has reached a path that threatens to escalate further between the opposing parties.

The analysis, written by Hamza Haddad, said that "the international community should avoid supporting early elections simply because the Shiite political leader is not satisfied with the outcome of the government formation process and threatens violence in response."

However, Haddad believes that "given the seriousness of the current impasse, early elections seem to be the most likely outcome to end the conflict, but he indicated that there is little possibility that such a step" would provide a real mechanism for resolution."

Haddad continues, "Given that the parliamentary elections that took place last October saw a low turnout, another election may erode what remains of the country's democracy, especially if it is held merely to appease al-Sadr."

The analyst explains that "there is no reason to believe that another early election will reverse this trend, and may instead further entrench the corrupt parties and their control over state facilities, given that only their supporters will go to vote."

He notes that "although early elections are an appropriate mechanism to resolve the deadlock in many democracies around the world, they cannot address the structural weaknesses of the political system in Iraq."

On Friday, the Sadrist movement, led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, renewed its call for the highest judicial authority in Iraq for the second time in less than a month, to dissolve parliament.

Thousands of Sadrists' supporters participated in Friday prayers, which were held in a square adjacent to the Iraqi parliament. In a sermon delivered by Muhannad al-Moussawi, who is close to al-Sadr, the current demanded the Federal Court to dissolve Parliament.

The court is scheduled to hold, next Tuesday, a session to consider the case submitted by the Secretary-General of the Sadrist bloc, Nassar al-Rubaie, a source in the court confirmed to AFP.

Addressing the judiciary, Al-Moussawi said, "If the rule is in your hands, the law is under your authority and the constitution is under your eyes, you decide what you want," and continued, "Take it as my advice: We will not abandon our right even after a while."

Since the early parliamentary elections in October 2021, Iraq has been in complete political paralysis with the inability to elect a new president and form a new government.

The level of escalation between the Sadrist movement and its opponents in the coordination framework rose on July 30, when al-Sadr supporters began a sit-in at the Iraqi parliament building in the Green Zone, demanding the dissolution of parliament and the holding of early elections, days after the resignation of the 73 Sadrist bloc deputies.

For their part, Sadr's opponents, in the coordinating framework that includes the bloc of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Fatah bloc representing the Popular Mobilization, want to form a government before going to early elections.

Supporters of the coordination framework have also been carrying out a sit-in in front of the Green Zone, which includes government institutions and Western diplomatic headquarters, since August 12.

The Iraqi constitution states in Article 64 of it that the dissolution of the Council of Representatives takes place “by an absolute majority of the number of its members, at the request of one-third of its members, or at the request of the Prime Minister and with the approval of the President of the Republic.”

Iraqi political analyst Issam Al-Faili believes that all political parties believe that the solution to the intractable crisis in Iraq lies in dissolving parliament and holding early elections, but they differ on the mechanism by which this should be done.

In an interview with Al-Hurra, Al-Faili added that the dissolution of Parliament will necessarily lead to an end to the state of political tension that the country has been witnessing for several months, with both sides insisting on their demands.

Al-Faili stresses that dissolving parliament has become an "urgent necessity" to resolve the situation and avoid further escalation.

Al-Faili believes that the continuation of the current situation may lead one of the opponents to carry out civil disobedience, which will affect the country's economy and possibly stop the movement of life completely in the country.

Al-Faili shows that "the early elections will prove the size of each party and may lead to a breakthrough or split in one of the two camps, paving the way to facilitate the task of the other party in obtaining the majority needed to form a government."

It is customary in Iraq for the parties of the "Shiite House" that have dominated the political scene since 2003 to reach an agreement among themselves on the name of a prime minister.

This time, however, the political parties failed to achieve this after many months of negotiations. The main difference between the two parties is that the Sadrist movement wanted a "national majority" government in alliance with the Sunnis and the Kurds, while its opponents, in the coordinating framework, wanted to maintain the consensus formula. link

Mot: ..... Soooooo Where Do You See Urself in ~~~~5 years