"Tidbits From TNT" Tuesday AM 4-20-2021

Apr 20

TNT:

Tishwash: Iraq poverty rate rises to 27% after currency devaluation

Baghdad, April 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) Iraq's Ministry of Planning said the country's poverty rate has increased to about 27 per cent after the central bank devalued the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar, the official al-Sabah newspaper reported.

"The devaluation of the Iraqi dinar pushed up the poverty rate to about 27 per cent, but the Ministry had completed a reform and recovery plan to respond to the economic and health crises," Xinhua news agency quoted Ministry spokesman Abdul-Zahara al-Hindawi as saying to al-Sabah on Monday.

The three-year plan (2021-2023) comprises three tracks: improving the private sector to boost the national economy, supporting public services, and addressing development gaps between provinces, according to al-Sabah.

On March 16, the Ministry said the poverty rate in Iraq reached 24.8 per cent in the second half of 2020, down from 31.7 per cent in the first half of the year under the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

The overall security situation has been relatively improved in Iraq since the defeat of the Islamic State group late in 2017.

But significant challenges remain, including political and security maladies, economic instability, social unrest caused by high unemployment, eroded public services, and persistent low standards of living

link

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Tishwash: The Iraqi dinar deepens the pain of the poor, ignites inflation ... and an emergency plan for reform

Official data revealed an increase in poverty indicators in Iraq, and high inflation rates after the decision to raise the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar.

And the Iraqi Ministry of Planning announced, today, Monday, that poverty indicators have risen in the country, and that it has completed a three-track reform plan concerned with developing remedies and finding solutions to reduce levels of inflation and economic contraction.

A spokesman for the ministry, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, said in a statement, that Al-Ain Al-Akhbariya obtained a copy of it, that "after raising the dollar exchange rate, the inflation index rose by 4.9 to 5%, while the primary poverty indicators increased by 26 to 27%." .

Al-Hindawi pointed out that the Ministry of Planning has now "finished preparing a" reform and recovery plan that responds to the challenges ", and taking into account the complex crisis that the country is experiencing, which is the economic crisis and the health crisis, and the resulting increase in poverty, raising prices, inflation, and the state of economic downturn. Hit the country. "

Regarding the details of implementing the plan, he explained that it will be two years old from 2021 to 2023, and it will work on 3 tracks, the first is the economic track, which includes improving the level of the economy and supporting the private sector, and the second is the social track, which includes support for the level of services in the field of health and education, the return of the displaced and the empowerment of women. The third track is the spatial axis that includes addressing the development gaps in the governorates.

The World Bank had issued warnings recently stating that the poverty rate in Iraq may reach 50% this year, in the absence of serious government reforms.

According to data from the Ministry of Planning, Baghdad, which has a population of about 9 million, finds four million of them difficult to provide for a living.

According to a study conducted by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning in cooperation with the World Bank and UNICEF, about 32% of the country’s population lives below the poverty line. Last year alone, the poverty rate in Iraq increased by 3% compared to 2019, meaning that the number of people living below the poverty line reached more than 12 million. And 600 thousand people. link

Tishwash: Al-Mousawi: External and internal pressures exerted on the finance and the Central Bank regarding the dollar exchange rate

A member of the Al-Fateh Alliance, MP, Hamid Al-Mousawi, confirmed, on Monday, that the Ministry of Finance and the Iraqi Central Bank are under pressure regarding the survival of the exchange rate.

Moussawi said, in a statement, to the agency / information /, that "internal parties exert strong pressure on the Central Bank of Iraq and the Ministry of Finance to keep the exchange rate high without considering the consequences of this opinion, which caused market prices to rise so much."

He added, "The Iraqi citizen before the crisis suffers greatly from his inability to provide most of the necessary needs for his family, so how is it today and what is the government looking at after this great matter."

He pointed out that "the Iraqi government is responsible for restoring prices to their normal position, achieving balance and controlling the local market, and standing with the citizen, not the one responsible." link

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Tishwash: Oil prices rise as dollar weakens

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar weakened and OPEC committed to reducing production, despite rising cases of CORONAvirus in Asia limiting gains.

Brent crude futures for June delivery rose 69 cents, or 1.03 percent, to $67.77 a barrel at 0515 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for May delivery rose 63 cents, or 0.96%, to $64.03 a barrel.

The dollar index fell to a six-week low against other major currencies on Monday after u.S. Treasury yields fell last week.

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NPC) on Monday announced a force majeure on exports from the port of Nara and said it could extend the measure to other facilities due to a budget dispute with the country's central bank.

ING said the disruption could reduce Libya's oil production by 280,000 barrels per day, reducing production to less than 1 million barrels per day for the first time since October.

Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports fell to eight-month lows in February, the Joint Data Initiative (JUDY) said On Monday, demonstrating the commitment of the world's largest oil exporter to cap its voluntary production to support oil prices.

However, the rise in COVID-19 cases in India, the world's third largest importer and consumer of oil, has damped optimism about a sustained recovery in global fuel demand. link

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