"Tidbits From TNT" Wednesday Morning 3-9-2022

Mar 9

TNT:

Tishwash: Biden plans to create a digital US dollar

Shafaq News / White House officials said on Wednesday that US President Joe Biden will order government agencies to begin work on creating a digital US dollar.

One US official stated that "the implications of the prospect of issuing a digital dollar are profound," referring to the critical role of the US currency in the global economy.

He continued, "We must be very cognizant about this analysis because the implications of our move in this direction are profound for the country that issues the world's primary reserve currency."

The official noted that the United States "can move quickly, but it can also move in a smart and comprehensive way."

According to a White House statement, the United States will study the potential benefits and risks of creating a digital dollar, with “pressure research and development on potential common digital currencies in the United States,” amid the massive rise in private cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Tishwash: Exchange rate.. look ahead

For more than a year, the talk and controversy regarding the exchange rate change that took place before the end of 2020, did not stop, under very complicated circumstances, in which the country was facing a dangerous slide, after oil prices continued to collapse, accompanied by severe repercussions resulting from the continuation of the Corona pandemic.

Perhaps changing the exchange rate was the most effective solution, in order for the state to be able to confront this crisis, after the public debt rates rose, and the foreign exchange reserves began to decrease, with the Central Bank.

Certainly, the decision was not easy, and everyone was aware of its immediate, difficult repercussions, and this is a natural result of any complex treatments of this kind.

About 15 months after the change, and with the unprecedented rise in oil prices, the calls for returning the price of the dinar to what it was before the change rose again. Is a decision like this possible??

I think that the matter is not as easy as those who claim to return to the past, there are many reasons that prevent this, among them, that the process of changing the value of the currency, up and down, loses its prestige, and that more than a year has passed since the change process, witnessed many contracts The internal and external, all concluded according to the current price, and accordingly, lowering the price again, will create a severe state of confusion, which will cast dark negative shadows on the economic scene, and will expose the Iraqi economy to aftershocks that may be violent, at a time when the government is still dealing with the repercussions resulting from raising Price in 2020 related to government contracts, and damages to contractors.

On the other hand, the budget, according to its proposed construction, is still facing a deficit, noting the ruling spending doors, which are very wide and large (operating spending), offset by a sharp rise in food, consumer and construction prices worldwide during the past two years, and accordingly the return to the old price, It will not contribute to reducing the prices of these materials, as much as the state of confusion that will result from this procedure, and the average selling price of Iraqi oil, during the past year 2021, ranged between 65-70 dollars per barrel, at a time when the oil market cannot be trusted, prices may be exposed to a situation Collapse at any moment, as a result of the accelerating events the world is witnessing.

So, what is the solution? .. The solution lies in activating the non-oil development sectors, supporting the vulnerable segments, through the social protection network, improving the level of the ration card, encouraging more investment in all sectors, giving the private sector the space required to revitalize the economic movement, and providing more job opportunities. decent. link

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Tishwash: 5 Candidates resigned, and there was almost an agreement on Al-Kazemi assuming the presidency of the next government

The Shiite coordination framework is awaiting the entry of “heavy caliber” mediation, according to some leaks, on the crisis line after its opponent, the “triple alliance” approached achieving a two-thirds majority.

It is believed that the new mediator, whose identity has been preserved by the "Coordination" so far, is not far from the events that have taken place since the end of last February, in Eastern Europe!

Political parties believe that talking about mediation is part of the “rumors war” to influence public opinion and the (neutral) category in Parliament, whose votes the two parties (the tripartite and the coordination) are seeking to win.

In this context, the news is talking about the approach of a new (neutral) bloc to the tripartite alliance, while the name of the current Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, has become the only name for the next government.

And it is expected that a new government will be formed next April, as it is hoped that Parliament will announce the holding of a new session to elect the President of the Republic after mid-March.

From Eastern Europe to Iraq!

According to some leaks received by Al-Mada, some parties in the "coordination framework" are talking about "the imminent entry of a new mediator, one of the superpowers."

According to leaks coming from sources close to the dialogue rooms, "the coordination does not explicitly reveal the identity of the mediator, but it hints that it may be Russia."

It is known that Russia has been preoccupied since the end of last February with the invasion of Ukraine in Eastern Europe, and is facing difficulties in advancing towards the capital, Kyiv.

But the leaks, depending on the parties in the coordination framework, explain this intervention in terms of “Russia will win in Ukraine and be a strong player in the region and a pole facing the United States.”

Last week, unknown parties placed a large banner in the Jadriya area in central Baghdad bearing the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin, before it was removed from unknown destinations as well.

The Shiite forces had failed to persuade Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement, to join the tripartite alliance that brings the latter together with the Sunni forces and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, more than one attempt.

Ismail Qaani, the head of the Iranian Quds Force, entered the crisis line three times, and was unable to dissuade Al-Sadr from his position, before an Arab Shiite leader tried, and faced the same result as Qaani.

The leader of the Sadrist movement, had spoken publicly last month, that he welcomes the existence of the coordinating framework, with the exception of Nuri al-Maliki, the former prime minister.

Al-Sadr accuses al-Maliki's Dawa Party of causing wasting about 450 billion dollars during my last government, and the spread of ISIS in 2014.

pressure papers

The news of the existence of a new mediation to bring the Shiite forces closer together is explained by the fact that it is among the "rumors" that promote pressure on al-Sadr.

Some sources talk about the Shiite forces now playing the “rising prices” card and putting pressure on the government in this regard in favor of negotiation, as they played before with the issue of the dollar exchange rate.

Al-Sadr had blocked the way in front of these attempts, according to observers, when he insisted on Parliament discussing the Minister of Finance and the Central Bank, last week, and presented more than once solutions to the rise in prices.

On the other side of the events, the information received by Al-Mada stated that a new bloc within the “neutral” category in Parliament is approaching the Triple Alliance.

The identity of that party has not yet been revealed, but for weeks the coalition has been trying to include the group, which has not announced any position so far from the opposing party (the tripartite and coordinating party).

Since the beginning of this week, the tripartite alliance has intensified its dialogues with the approach of announcing a session to choose a president of the republic.

Al-Kazemi alone

According to the informed sources, the coalition "has become close to gathering seats that allow it to pass its candidate for the presidency, and it has almost completely agreed to give Al-Kazemi a new mandate."

The sources had previously indicated to (Al-Mada) that the leader of the Sadrist movement has 6 candidates to head the next government, in addition to Al-Kazemi, his cousin Jaafar Al-Sadr, the former Minister of Municipalities, Adel Mahouder, and 3 others from Sadr's close circle.

Al-Kazemi assumed the premiership at a critical period in the country’s history that followed the resignation of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi following the October demonstrations that began in 2019.

The sources add that the number of those who will vote with the Triple Alliance in the session to choose the President of the Republic will be "28 seats."

At least 220 votes are needed to pass the presidential candidate, according to the latest interpretations of the Federal Court, which requested the presence of two-thirds of Parliament to complete the voting procedures for the “president.”

In the parliament session last Saturday, which was devoted to reopening the nomination for the third time for the position of Speaker of Parliament, the number of voters reached 203 parliamentarians.

The three lines

To this, a member of the coordination framework indicates that the bloc is moving more than one line towards the political crisis that erupted five months ago, following the legislative elections that took place last October.

A member of the Shiite Gathering, Wael Al-Rikabi, told Al-Mada that the coordination framework "is now working to bring the views of the Kurdish forces closer to agree on a consensual candidate for the presidency."

The tripartite alliance supports Reber Ahmed, the candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, while the other party supports Barham Salih, the candidate of the Union Party.

In the second line, Al-Rikabi refers to “the continuation of dialogues with the Sadrist movement through the second and third lines” after al-Sadr froze the negotiations at the leadership level a month ago.

A member of the coordination framework asserts that the Sadrist movement "shows flexibility regarding the participation of all Shiite forces in the government, and has retreated from its previous stubborn positions."

Since al-Sadr's decision to freeze the negotiations at the beginning of last February, the latter has not been exposed to the political issue, and has not commented on developments in the matter of the negotiations.

Finally, al-Rikabi clarifies that the third line on which the Coordinating Committee is working is the “Announcement of the National Stability Bloc,” which is supposed to include more than 130 seats, and will be what has become known as the “blocking third.” link

Revchux: Gettin old