“Tidbits From TNT” Thursday 1-8-2025
TNT:
Tishwash: Officially, the exchange rate in the 2026 budget is 1300 Iraqi dinars.
The Central Bank of Iraq has decided to adopt an exchange rate of 1,300 dinars for the US dollar in the 2026 budget, according to an official document revealed on Thursday.
The Central Bank of Iraq sent an official letter to the Ministry of Finance/Budget Department/Current Budget Preparation Section, regarding the determination of the official exchange rate adopted in the draft Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq for the year 2026.
According to a book issued by the Statistics and Research Department of the Central Bank of Iraq, obtained by Shafaq News Agency, the bank clarified in its book that the official exchange rate that will be adopted in the 2026 budget is 1300 dinars per dollar.
The book indicated that this price has been in effect since February 2023, explaining that it is related to the work of the Central Bank of Iraq. link
Tishwash: Iraq's gold reserves remain stable at 170 tons… An expert explains the reasons
The World Gold Council announced on Wednesday that Iraq maintained its global ranking with reserves exceeding 170 tons of gold, without any change.
The council stated in its latest statistics for January, which were reviewed by Shafaq News Agency, that Iraq maintained its 29th position globally out of 100 countries that possess the largest reserves of the precious metal.
He explained that Iraq’s gold reserves amounted to 170.9 tons, equivalent to 22.1% of its total other hard currency reserves, ranking fourth at the Arab level after Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Algeria.
It is worth noting that the World Gold Council, which is based in the United Kingdom, includes the world’s largest gold mining companies and has extensive experience in analyzing market trends and factors affecting the price of the precious metal.
For his part, economist Mohammed Al-Hassani confirmed that data from the World Gold Council showed that Iraq’s gold reserves remained stable without any change, despite the clear fluctuations in global markets, with a number of countries moving to strengthen their gold holdings as a safe haven.
Al-Hassani explained to Shafaq News Agency that this stability reflects a cautious monetary policy followed by the Central Bank of Iraq, which aims to maintain financial stability and avoid buying at high price levels, while keeping the option of moving in the future linked to global market developments and economic conditions. link
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Tishwash: The Iraqi parliament is completing its transitional steps towards reaching the stage of forming a government.
The Iraqi parliament is focusing on completing its transitional steps to make the most of the time until the formation of the next government, by naming its parliamentary committees and their heads, distributing the administrative positions of the council and preparing its monthly agenda, while awaiting the decision on the appointment of the president of the republic and moving to the final stage, which is the assignment of a prime minister and the selection of its members to grant it confidence .
A parliamentary source reported the formation of a joint committee comprising members of the House of Representatives and heads of political blocs, tasked with distributing members among the parliamentary committees .
The source explained to Shafaq News Agency that "these committees will be temporary, and modifications will be made to them later after the formation of the new government ."
This comes in conjunction with intensive parliamentary activity following the start of the sixth electoral session, as MP Mohammed Al-Baldawi, from the Sadiqun parliamentary bloc, stated that the meeting of the Speaker of Parliament with the heads of political blocs, in addition to the second session of the Council, resulted in an agreement to grant a ten-day deadline to the heads of blocs to name and distribute their members to the parliamentary committees .
Al-Baldawi explained to Shafaq News Agency that the number of parliamentary committees currently stands at 25, with a trend to split some of the committees to raise the number to 27, noting that the final decision will be made after the distribution of the representatives and the official approval of the committees within the parliament .
He added that the process of appointing heads of standing committees requires time, and is linked to the formation of the new government and consideration of parliamentary entitlement, provided that the committees are temporarily managed by the oldest members .
In the same context, the First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Adnan Faihan, stressed in a statement from his office on the sidelines of a meeting he had with the Speaker and his second deputy, the importance of expediting the submission of the names of candidates for the temporary committees, with the need to take into account the criteria of experience, competence, specialization, achieving the legal quorum during meetings, and giving priority to draft laws and proposals that directly affect the lives of citizens .
The statement indicated that the meeting also agreed to form a committee headed by the First Deputy and with the membership of a number of heads of political blocs, which will study the names of the candidates and decide on their distribution among the committees, as well as prepare a monthly agenda for the sessions of the House of Representatives, in a way that contributes to developing legislative performance and strengthening the oversight role of the legislative institution during the current session .
On Monday morning, January 5, Speaker of Parliament Hebat al-Halbousi opened the proceedings of the second session of the first legislative term of the first legislative year of the sixth electoral cycle, after the Council held its first session on December 29, which witnessed the election of al-Halbousi as Speaker of Parliament, Adnan Faihan as First Deputy Speaker, and Farhad al-Atroushi as Second Deputy Speaker .
On another note, a parliamentary source revealed that MPs Ivan Faiq and Kulsal Muhammad will hold the positions of rapporteurs of the House of Representatives during today’s session, without an official decision being issued yet by the parliament’s presidency .
In this context, MP Arshad Al-Salihi announced that he had obtained the approval of the Council Presidency to name MP Kulsal Muhammad Abdul Rahman as the rapporteur of the House of Representatives, stressing that this step comes within the framework of guaranteeing the constitutional entitlements of the Turkmen component .
In parallel, the Independent High Electoral Commission issued its decisions to name a number of replacement candidates who won membership in the House of Representatives for the sixth session in the governorates of Baghdad, Salah al-Din, Diyala, Nineveh, Karbala and Babylon, after auditing the results and legal and technical deliberations, in a step aimed at completing parliamentary representation in accordance with constitutional procedures .
Regarding the presidential file, Speaker of Parliament Hebat al-Halbousi announced that the number of candidates for the position had risen to more than 80, with the closing of the nomination period at the end of official working hours on Monday, noting the diversity of the candidates from various religious and national components .
As for the formation of the government, the forces of the Coordination Framework are continuing their meetings to discuss the mechanism for choosing the new Prime Minister. Leaders in the Framework confirmed that there is no political deadlock, noting progress in the dialogues, pending the completion of the election of the President of the Republic, after which the Framework’s candidate for forming the government will be announced in accordance with the constitutional timeline. link
Mot: .. aaaahhhhhhh -- the Fun of Raising the ""Wee Folks""!!!!
