"Tidbits From TNT" Thursday Morning 9-23-2021

Sep 23

TNT:

Tishwash: Saleh puts the international community in the picture regarding Iraq in his speech today

The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, will deliver this evening, Thursday, Iraq's speech before the United Nations General Assembly, where he will talk about developments in the situation in Iraq and regional and international issues of concern. link

Tishwash: Saleh to Abdullahian: The stability and security of Iraq and the guarantee of its sovereignty are indispensable to the stability of the region

The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, received, at his residence in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian.

The meeting dealt with the close bilateral relations between the two countries and the two neighboring peoples, and ways of enhancing them in various fields, consolidating economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries, and activating the understandings concluded between the two sides in this regard, according to a statement from Saleh's office.

President Barham Salih said that Iraqi-Iranian relations are important for the two countries and the whole region, referring to Iraq's efforts to achieve stability in the region and ensure its peace, and its keenness to be an arena for the convergence of the interests of its peoples for joint action and coordination in facing the challenges of terrorism, health conditions and the threat of climate change. Stressing that Iraq's stability and security and guaranteeing its sovereignty are indispensable elements for the stability of the region.

For his part, Minister Amir Abdullahian affirmed his country's support for the security and stability of Iraq, and his country's aspiration to strengthen bilateral relations, economic and trade cooperation, praising the diplomatic efforts led by Iraq to ease regional tensions. link

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Shybaby: Norway hikes rates, becoming the first central bank in the developed world to do so

KEY POINTS

“A normalising economy now suggests that it is appropriate to begin a gradual normalisation of the policy rate,” said Governor Oystein Olsen in a statement Thursday.

Norway’s currency rallied to its highest levels since June against the euro, according to Reuters, and gained 0.7% against the U.S. dollar. The bank also said that another hike is likely in December.

The Norges Bank on Thursday become the first major Western central bank to raise interest rates following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

After cutting rates three times in 2020 due the economic fallout from the crisis, Norway’s central bank unanimously decided to raise rates to 0.25% from zero.

“A normalising economy now suggests that it is appropriate to begin a gradual normalisation of the policy rate,” said Governor Oystein Olsen in a statement Thursday.

The bank said that another hike is likely in December.

Norway’s currency rallied to its highest levels since June against the euro, and gained 0.7% against the U.S. dollar.

The rate hike comes as many central banks consider similar moves amid solid growth and surging inflation. In the United States, Federal Reserve officials reiterated Wednesday that a tapering of bond buying is coming “soon.” The European Central Bank recently slowed its bond buying, but an actual rate move is expected to be still some way off for both banks.

“The reopening of society has led to a marked upswing in the Norwegian economy, and activity is now higher than its pre-pandemic level. Unemployment has fallen further, and capacity utilisation appears to be close to a normal level,” the bank added in the statement.

EUROPE ECONOMY