TNT:

Tishwash:  Bank Indonesia Prepares to Issue Digital Rupiah as Legal Tender for Digital Payments

The central bank of Indonesia is working to issue a wholesale digital rupiah. The new currency is meant to be the only legal tender for digital transactions in the country while the regulator also wants to ensure that it will be exchangeable across borders.

Digital Rupiah Concept Expected by Year End

Indonesia’s monetary authority is advancing with a project to issue a digital version of the national fiat for wholesale transactions. It plans to release the conceptual design of the future digital rupiah by the end of 2022, Governor Perry Warjiyo revealed in a briefing on Thursday. Quoted by Bloomberg, he elaborated:

The principle of digital rupiah will be the same as paper money which is to be the only legal currency for digital transactions in Indonesia.

Bank Indonesia has been studying the possible launch of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) since last year. Its main intention is to get ahead of the global adoption of cryptocurrency as a payment method, the report notes.

The monetary authorities of other nations in the region have also been looking into implementing blockchain technology to improve transfers and settlements, including the central banks of the Philippines and Australia, which are considering wholesale digital currencies as well.

Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Republic of South Africa announced trials of cross-border payments with CBDCs last fall. The central banks of these countries said the goal of their cooperation was to develop shared platforms for international transactions using different state-issued digital currencies.

Bank Indonesia is currently exploring technology options with counterparts and working on the cybersecurity features of the digital rupiah. Once issued, the CBDC will be distributed to large banks and payment service providers, which will in turn sell digital rupiahs to smaller banking institutions for various retail transactions.

Wellian Wiranto, economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp in Singapore, explained that this will be done to avoid potential disintermediation of banks, especially in times of crisis, or the risk that households would choose to bank directly with the “risk-free” central bank rather than commercial banks.  link

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CandyKisses:  Al-Amiri on “Al-Maliki’s Leaks”: We are surprised at the delay in issuing an arrest warrant.. We are waiting for the court’s ruling

Baghdad today – Baghdad

Today, Sunday, the resigned MP from the Sadrist bloc, Ghayeb Al-Amiri, expressed his surprise at the judiciary’s delay in issuing an arrest warrant against the leader of the State of Law coalition, Nuri al-Maliki, against the background of his leaked recordings, while clarifying the legal penalties to be taken in respect of them.

Al-Amiri said, in a post on his Facebook page, which was followed by (Baghdad Today), that “Article 195 of penalties stipulates (a person who aims to provoke a civil war or sectarian fighting by arming citizens or forcing them to arm each other against each other or inciting fighting) shall be punished with life imprisonment .

The penalty is the death penalty if the offender's goal is achieved .

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Tishwash:  Iraq overtakes Saudi Arabia and occupies the third place among the largest oil exporters to America

On Sunday, the US Energy Information Administration announced that Iraq has surpassed Saudi Arabia in its oil exports to America during the past week, to become the third largest exporter of it.

The administration said in a report that "the average US imports of crude oil during the past week from eight countries amounted to 5.722 million barrels per day, an increase of 439 thousand barrels per day compared to the previous week, which amounted to 5.283 million barrels per day."

She added that "the rate of Iraq's oil exports to America amounted to 456,000 barrels per day last week, thus exceeding Saudi Arabia, whose exports to America reached an average of 242,000 barrels per day, and thus Iraq became its third exporter after Canada and Mexico."

She pointed out that "the most oil revenues for America during the past week came from Canada, at a rate of 3.481 million barrels per day, followed by Mexico at a rate of 877,000 barrels per day, and oil revenues from Colombia at a rate of 405,000 barrels per day, and then Saudi Arabia at a rate of 242,000 barrels per day."

According to the administration, "the amount of US imports of crude oil from Nigeria reached an average of 136,000 barrels per day, from Brazil at a rate of 70,000 barrels per day, and from Ecuador at a rate of 57,000 barrels per day, while no quantity was imported from Trinidad and Tobago or Russia link

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Tishwash:  Al-Rasheed Bank begins installing ATMs that operate throughout the day

Al-Rasheed Bank announced, on Sunday, that it has started setting up three "out door" ATMs in the capital, Baghdad.

In a statement received by Shafak News Agency, the bank's media office said that these exchanges operate for 24 hours.

He added that they were distributed in three branches (Rabat, Yarmouk and Dora) as a first step to facilitate the receipt of salaries, noting that work is underway to create and distribute ATMs in other branches of the bank.   link 

Mot:  One More of the ""TRUE DELIMAS"" of Raising a Fur Baby! ~~~~

Mot:  .. Yet another Tip on Raising the ""Wee Folks"" ~~~