"Tidbits From TNT" Sunday Morning 2-14-2021

TNT:

Tishwash:  Planning and the World Bank discuss a third household survey and the youth empowerment program in Iraq

An intensive round of discussions and discussions between the two technical teams from the Ministry and the World Bank was held at the Ministry of Planning, today, Sunday, on the nature of the support provided by the World Bank in a number of areas.

In a statement, the Euphrates News received a copy of it, the ministry stated, “The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning, Maher Hammad Johan, chaired the meeting and was attended by the Director General of International Cooperation and Government Investment and Poverty Alleviation Strategy, the Assistant Director General of the Regional and Local Planning Department, and a number of stakeholders, while Ramzi Numan and his accompanying delegation represented the World Bank in Iraq.

The statement stated that “during the meeting, a discussion was held for the third economic and social survey of the family in Iraq, which the Ministry of Planning intends to implement during the current year 2021, as well as the training program for economic inclusion, which was discussed. It will be engaged with the paths of the poverty alleviation strategy by creating sustainable job opportunities in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, by developing the skills and technical capabilities of youth, and granting them soft loans that enable them to establish sustainable income-generating small projects.

And he continued, “The World Bank team showed its high willingness to work jointly with the Ministry of Planning, and the possibility of financing a number of important projects, in order to serve the achievement of human development in Iraq.”   link

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Tishwash:  Al-Nasiri: The 2021 budget is the budget of the Iraqi people, and its submission to political conflicts is enough

The economic and banking advisor, Samir al-Nasiri, confirmed, on Sunday, that the general budget for 2021 is the budget of the patient Iraqi people, which is supposed when prepared by the government and its allocations were distributed as investment and operational expenditures that serve the people and sustain the movement of the economic and social life of society.

Al-Nusiri said in an interview with "Al-Eqtisad News", that the general budget should not be subject to tensions, debates and political disputes between the political blocs of Parliament, indicating that it exceeds narrow partisan interests and that its discussions are not used to electoral advertisements and that the urgent needs of the people and the appointments of unemployed youth are not exploited. Work for the purpose of achieving special goals.

He added, the House of Representatives must quickly finish the budget discussions and make its observations, amendments and transfers in accordance with its powers stipulated in its internal system and quickly ratify it, because any delay in this will harm the national economy and harm the interests of the Iraqi people.

Al-Nusiri indicated that it is necessary to take into account the expectations of an improvement in oil prices during the coming months of 2021 at a rate ranging between (55 (60) dollars per barrel and raise the selling price fixed in the budget to a rate not less than (50) dollars per barrel, which will contribute to reducing the deficit planned in the draft budget. And it reduces the dependence on the internal borrowing from the central bank by a large percentage.

He called on the House of Representatives to focus in its discussions on activating new and effective programs to diversify sources of revenue, revitalize the agricultural sector, the industrial sector and the tourism sector, support and give a fundamental role to involve the private sector in making economic decisions, contribute to development and rebuild liberated cities, provide government support to private banks and motivate them to provide bank financing for small projects. Medium and strategic (infrastructure projects).    link

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Tishwash:  Sulaymaniyah ... Federal departments will go on strike to protest the delay in salaries

Official departments in the city of Sulaymaniyah and its suburbs associated with their salaries with the federal government (residency, national cards and passports) announced their strike permanently until late salaries are paid, holding the federal and regional governments the responsibility of reaching these difficult situations.

Employees in those departments demanded that "political conflicts" and narrow interests be kept away from "the citizen's" sustenance.

A source in the federal government directorates in Sulaymaniyah governorate (establishing national passports for the national card) told Shafaq News, “We, as directorates affiliated with the federal government, with an estimated number of 5,000 employees, announce our strike permanently due to the delay in paying salaries and deducting percentages from them.”

He added, "The general strike decision was announced in all directorates and departments of the Sulaymaniyah Passports in Halabja and Karmian and in the district and sub-district offices due to the delay of salaries for more than two months and 15 days by the federal government, which did not send salaries because of problems with the regional government, which insists that salaries be distributed from Before that, and cutting the rates applicable to the rest of the region’s citizens' salaries by 21%.

He explained that "delaying salaries for a period of two months also means that the cut will be 50%, and this affected our living life and caused a major financial crisis for us, and in our turn we employees of the directorates will continue to strike and demand to pay our dues in full without cutting or deducting any amount from them, and we hold the responsibility for the matter to the federal government and the regional government.   link

Tishwash:  Budget 2021 .. Agreement to include a paragraph to increase the capital of government banks

The Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee announced today, Sunday, the agreement to include a paragraph to increase the capital of government banks in the draft Federal Budget Law for the fiscal year 2021.

The committee stated in a statement that Mawazine News received a copy of it, that it was “hosted in the presence of the First Vice President The House of Representatives, Hassan Karim al-Kaabi, directors of government banks and a representative of the Central Bank of Iraq to discuss the mechanism of banks ’work and the extent of their contribution to economic development and discuss the implementation of the Iraqi Central Bank’s initiative of five trillion dinars, which includes the sectors of industry, agriculture and housing and directing it in a manner that serves the economic development of the country and drives the economy In the presence of a number of deputies of the Economy and Investment Committee, to discuss the mechanism for implementing the initiative.

The head of the committee, Ahmed Salim Al-Kinani, said, according to the statement, that “this initiative was originally launched by the Economic and Investment Committee more than four years ago and was prepared in full and in detail for industrial and agricultural development and the development of the investment sector in the field of housing and other investments related to making a qualitative leap in the development of projects.” Small, medium and manpower employment. ”

Al-Kinani added, “The bureaucracy that governs state institutions has delayed this initiative, which has lost a large part of its economic goals,” explaining that “the Economic and Investment Committee, and with its legislative and supervisory work, believes that there is a weakness in the mechanism of implementing this initiative, especially in the industrial and agricultural sides, which are the two important aspects that must be

That we focus on them in the initiative as they are the main drivers of all economic activities in the country and its weakness lies in the lack of funds allocated to it within the initiative in addition to the great complications in terms of the required guarantees and this reduces the chances of the success of the initiative within these two sectors while we see that the initiative is heading to the housing loan, which is the purchase Housing does not stimulate speculators in small real estate and lead to competition for small real estate, rather than moving towards building housing that stimulates large sectors of the economy and employment of the labor force. ”

He confirmed, “It was agreed to approach the Finance Committee to include in the general budget a paragraph concerning increasing the capital of government banks in a manner that qualifies these banks to carry out their economic and development tasks,” pointing out to “discussing a number of important issues that must not be absent from the initiative, including ensuring the flow of entry of materials Initial requirements for factories inside Iraq to ensure the continuity of production and non-stopping of it, as well as the guarantees required for loans for industrial projects that must take into account the percentage of the loan from the required guarantee of real estate.   link

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Mot:  Operator: 911, what's your emergency?

"Fred": A guy just got hit by a car, I need an ambulance.

Operator: What's your location?

"Fred": I'm on Eucalyptus street.

Operator: Can you spell that for me?

"Fred": (long awkward pause)

Operator: Sir? Are you there?

"Fred": I'm gonna drag him over to Pine street and call right back.

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Mot:  ~~~~ Ummmmmmm -----