"Tidbits From TNT" Sunday Morning 11-29-2020
TNT:
Tishwash: Without amendments or reservations ... The green light to activate the "white paper" ... Iraqis face officially "harsh reforms”
Today, Saturday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee in the House of Representatives called on the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi to start implementing the provisions of the White Paper.
And it included a document issued by the committee and directed to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, that “Out of the solidarity responsibility of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, represented by the Parliamentary Finance Committee, we invite you to start implementing the terms of the white paper that you submitted to the Finance Committee.”
She added: "The fact that most of what was mentioned in it falls within the powers of the executive authority to determine the timelines necessary for implementation, and the institutions responsible for their implementation, so that performance can be monitored and evaluated."
And she continued: "We would like to send you some additional urgent reform measures proposed by the Finance Committee, which can be positively reflected in the short term to address the financial and economic crisis that the country is going through, hoping to work on it." link
Cutebwoy: Parliamentary Finance issues a package of reforms that includes imposing a value-added tax and reviewing the dollar exchange rate.
Economy News – Baghdad: November 28, 2020
The Parliamentary Finance Committee issued proposals to address the financial crisis in Iraq, which included reviewing the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, establishing a national telecommunications company, and imposing a value-added tax.
The reforms presented by Parliamentary Finance included, from three axes, the first entitled Maximizing Revenues and Rationalizing Expenditures and included the immediate activation of compulsory collection of services provided to government, commercial, industrial, agricultural and household institutions, such as electricity, water, sewage, landlines and their deduction from grants and salaries, in addition to reviewing crude oil prices
The provider of the refineries, and the unutilized government assets such as real estate and land flow through selling them by public auction, imposing a value-added tax of 12%, and obligating all institutions to send the Ministry of Finance’s share of the total revenues up to date. It also included stopping the work of embassies and attachés in countries where Iraq does not have any diplomatic, commercial or cultural exchange, negotiating to postpone the dues of oil companies or paying them in kind outside the OPEC quota, and allowing the export of gravel and sand and the investment of mineral resources such as phosphates, sulfur and uranium.
On taxes, it included the formulation of the tax withholding ladder by supporting the low-income segments by raising the minimum tax level, adjusting the tax price of the people concerned to a price close to the price of neighboring countries, and imposing annual taxes on all cars according to their type.
As for the second axis related to reforming the financial and monetary policies, it included the imposition of comprehensive insurance on cars, expatriates, cars, fuel stations, imported materials, companies, crude oil, building permits, residential units, etc. Supplies, medicines, water stations, and the educational and educational process only.
The reform paper also focused on the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with the Central Bank, to issue an electronic dinar for the purpose of collecting government revenues and deserved tags, reviewing the exchange rate against the dollar, deleting zeros, freeing banks from the hands of the Ministry of Finance and forming an independent financial body that includes banks, money transfer companies and insurance companies, and reducing The interest rate on investment projects.
As for the third axis, it includes restructuring public and losing companies, establishing a national telecommunications company, and presenting disabled government factories and factories to the private sector.
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Tishwash: Representative Finance: Lack of lean banks and insecurity are behind the hoarding of money in homes
Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Representative Jamal Cougar, said on Sunday that lean banks and insecurity are behind people hoarding their money in homes.
Cougar said in an interview with Shafaq News; "There are hoarded money among the people, and therefore when the situation is worrying, the owners of these funds do not have the courage to work in internal investment," noting that "they either invest abroad or remain hoarded."
He continued, "Our banks are not as solid as required, in addition to the confused security environment that is expelling investments and capital, making most people keep their money either at home or in a MasterCard and not use it."
He added, "The government can give reassurance and confidence to the citizen, create safe job opportunities, and create a stable security environment to make citizens get out of these hoarded money and invest it in a way that moves the economic process.
Iraq has been suffering from a suffocating financial crisis for several months due to the collapse of crude oil prices, the repercussions of the Corona virus and the economic effects it caused on most countries of the world.
According to the Central Bank of Iraq, there is a large percentage of the money hoarded in homes and not invested, indicating that 77% of the Iraqi currency circulating in the market is hoarded in the homes of citizens. lin
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Tishwash: The International Monetary Fund intends to lend Iraq 7 billion dollars
A professor of economics at the Iraqi University, Abdul Rahman al-Mashhadani, revealed that Iraq will soon obtain a $ 7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Al-Mashhadani said, "The International Monetary Fund will provide urgent aid to Iraq worth 7 billion dollars in the coming days," noting that "the fund is trying to help Iraq fill its financial deficit."
He added, "Negotiations are continuing between the Central Bank of Iraq and the International Monetary Fund about the mechanisms for receiving the loan and the chapters for its spending."
He pointed out that "the largest part of the loan will go to the operational side of the budget to disburse the necessary expenditures and fill the deficit in it."
And that "the interest of the loan will range between 0.5% and 1.0%," stressing that "Iraq's reserves of hard currency are estimated at around $ 54 billion and are stable at the time of foreclosure." link
Harambe: Bloomberg: Afghan, Taliban Teams Agree on Terms for Conducting Peace Talks
(11/28/20)
The government of Afghanistan and the rebel Taliban movement have agreed on procedural rules for peace talks to end the country’s 19 years of conflict.
The terms, which consist of 21 articles, have been “approved” by both parties to break weeks of stalemate, Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, where they have a political office, said on Twitter. The Afghan government hasn’t commented.
A key disagreement has been whether the U.S.-Taliban deal should serve as the basis for the Afghan-Taliban talks, a position rejected by the government. The peace deal the U.S. signed with the militants on Feb. 29 requires the Taliban to cut ties with all terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda, in exchange for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The U.S. has started withdrawing forces from the country and will reduce its troops to 2,500 from 4,500 by Jan. 15, with more scheduled leave by May. The Afghan government expressed concern over what it considers a premature withdrawal that could leave the country in civil war.
The United Nations has noted a dramatic surge in violence by the Taliban since the talks began on Sept. 12, ranging from attacks on Afghan army bases to attempts to capture key cities including Kandahar. Other militants have launched assaults on Kabul University and other educational centers, killing dozens of students. On Sept 21, unknown assailants fired a deadly barrage of rockets that struck residential areas in the capital.
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Mot: and then there was the Blonde at the Super Bowl ~~~~~