TNT:

Tuesday night UPDATE for March 2, 2021

Several banks have reported seeing rates on their screens and our Treasury contacts are now confirming such sightings.

Some banks reported fluctuating rates throughout last week and then stabilizing for the past two days.

The bank staffers and Treasury are convinced that we are at an "ANY MINUTE NOW" type of status, but TIME WILL TELL!!!!

Shybaby: Al-Kadhimi: We succeeded in stopping the country's collapse economically and financially

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi called on ministers not to repeat the mistakes of previous governments in dealing with strategic issues.

"Ministers should not repeat the mistakes of previous governments in dealing with strategic issues, and not to deal with these issues bureaucratically, which leads to disruption of the delivery of services and the completion of projects," Kadhimi told a cabinet meeting tuesday.

"The country is going through multiple crises and there are attempts to obstruct the work of the government, and we have succeeded in preventing the collapse of the country economically and financially, and we have taken an important reform step represented by the white paper, which contributed to the continuation of the payment of salaries regularly after there were those who were betting on the collapse of the situation," he said, adding that "the diagnosis of the challenge is important to overcome obstacles and move forward in the stages of completion."

"There is an increase in cash reserves and has increased by four billion dollars after the current government accused it of causing the bankruptcy of the reserves, as well as the notorious currency auction, which has been reduced to corruption and has become a thing of the past," he said.

He also directed the ministries of health, finance and planning to "work to end the file of hospitals that have been in operation since 2009 and accept them and to work hard to complete them."
Al-Kadhimi stressed the need for ministers to "work day and night to overcome all obstacles and not to give in to challenges.

He also said that "dealing with the purchase of vaccines with countries and manufacturers should be directly with countries and manufacturers, and that dealing with intermediaries should be prohibited at all."

"Iraq has succeeded in returning to its important role externally, and there is great confidence in it at the moment for the important roles it has played in the field of calm and dialogue," he said.

Wafa a fatlawi

(alforatnews.com)

****************

Tishwash: Amending the interest of the Central Bank’s initiative of (1) trillion dinars

Central bank 's keenness of Iraq on the note that the current exceptional circumstances related to the financial and economic side and the implications of a pandemic Corona, so decided that the bank "reduce all the benefits imposed on the loans granted including Bank initiative of the Iraqi Central of 1 trillion dinars , " as in the below:

1. The reduction of interest The Central Bank of Iraq for large projects to be (1%) instead of (2%)
2- Reducing interest for banks on housing loans to be (2%) instead of (4%)
3- Adjusting the Central Bank commission (for housing loans) to be (5 per thousand) Instead of (7 per thousand)
4- All interests for banks and guarantor companies are "diminishing".

The Central Bank of Iraq
Information Office
March 3, 2021 link

***********

Tishwash: 10 rockets hit a base hosting US troops in Iraq, the 2nd such attack in a month

Ten rockets hit an air base in Iraq hosting US-led coalition and Iraqi troops, officials in the country said.

Col. Wayne Marotto, a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the coalition fighting the Islamic State terrorist group in the country, said the rockets targeted the Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq at about 7 a.m local time.

There were no immediate reports of any injuries, Iraq's military told Reuters. An Iraqi military source said the attack was launched from just west of the city Baghdadi, near the base.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to reports.

The attack is the second on international forces in the country within a month.

A February 16 rocket attack on a northern Iraqi air base, used by the US military, killed a civilian contractor and injured a US soldier. The attack was claimed by a Shia militant group believed to be backed by militias funded by Iran, The Guardian reported.

Last week, the Biden administration launched airstrikes in Syria targeting Iran-backed militias whom it accused of supporting attacks on US forces in Iraq.

US forces have been targeted in recent months by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, with tensions ratcheting up after the Trump administration assassinated the top Iranian military commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.

Wednesday's attack comes amid heightened tensions in Iraq, with a suicide bombing killing 30 people at a Baghdad market in January amid deteriorating security.

US forces are stationed in the country to fight the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which is seeking to regroup after being ousted from its power bases in the country by Iraqi forces fighting alongside coalition forces and Iran-based militias. link

Targeting an American convoy in two provinces in southern Iraq

An American convoy targeted in the Muthanna Governorate (Samawah)

An American convoy was also targeted with an explosive device on the highway near Al-Diwaniyah

The explosion resulted in major damage to one of the wheels of the convoy, without knowing the losses.

The convoy was carrying equipment to the US Air Force at the Harir base, it was targeted on the international road in Diwaniyah and the fire was still burning with the convoy, the targeting operation was at 1200 hours, the transport company, Al-Burhan DGC_I. link

************

Tishwash: Iraq is likely to finish paying compensation to Kuwait ... this year

Financial advisor to the government, Mazhar Saleh: There is only $ 5.2 billion left, out of $ 52 billion

The financial advisor to the Iraqi government, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, suggested that Iraq will complete this year, paying the remainder of the compensation amounts owed to the State of Kuwait, for the damage it suffered as a result of the invasion of Saddam’s regime in August 1990.

Saleh said to the official Iraqi newspaper, Al-Sabah, issued yesterday, that only less than five billion and 200 million dollars remain from the compensation of the Kuwait war, out of the total amount of 52 billion dollars

He added, "3 percent of the proceeds of every barrel of Iraqi crude oil that is exported is still being deducted through a mechanism and a bank account maintained by the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York under a UN Security Council resolution, and the deductions are currently paid through the United Nations Compensation Fund," he added.

And the Iraqi official expected that all the remaining compensation will end within a year or a little more, depending on the development of oil prices and the revenues of the exported Iraqi barrel of oil.

He revealed that the Iraqi government is currently studying "positive ideas and proposals to establish an Iraqi sovereign wealth fund, in which sums equivalent to the compensation for the Kuwait war are deposited after the payment of these compensation is completed in the coming months, and it will be managed along the lines of generational funds." In line with the white paper launched by the government to strengthen and reform the structure of the Iraqi economy ».

It is noteworthy that the United Nations Compensation Commission was formed in 1991, the same year in which the US-led coalition drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

The committee mandated the payment of 52.4 billion dollars (46.8 billion euros) to individuals, companies, government agencies, and other organizations that suffered losses due to the invasion, and the compensation money comes from a tax imposed on sales of Iraqi oil and its products. link

************

Mot: ~~~ IN Case Ya Ever Wondered Why!!! ~~~