Tuesday AM Iraq Economy News Highlights 5-31-22

Tuesday AM Iraq Economy News Highlights 5-31-22

What Will Happen In Iraq In 2050? .. The Middle Eastern Threat That No One Talks About

Posted On2022-05-31 By Sotaliraq   The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, warned against the world’s ignoring the phenomenon of sandstorms in the Middle East, especially in Iraq, which cause billions of dollars in economic losses and health damage to thousands of citizens, pointing out that this phenomenon is liable to increase dramatically in the coming years.

And after the newspaper pointed out in a report that sandstorms in the Middle East are ignored by the world compared to other types of natural disasters, and thus ignore their increasing effects on people's health and the region's economy.

The report compared the scenes of the storm in Iraq with the scenes known to be in the United States, saying it is as if you are in the midst of a winter storm in an American city, where cars are moving slowly in the streets, and their headlights are shining in the middle of the day, as if they are passing through a layer of snow, but he adds that the place He is already in Baghdad amid temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, and that the streets were not covered by the white color of snow, but rather the orange color, which is the color of sand and dust that fills the air, indicating that similar scenes were recorded in Iran, eastern Syria and most of the Gulf countries.

The report pointed out that sandstorms usually hit Iraq during the spring months.

But he added that the events of a storm are considered the tenth since the beginning of April, i.e. an average of one storm every week, explaining that it is a phenomenon that has worsened in terms of size and danger in recent years, and is expected to worsen in the coming years.

The report warned that these storms “are not just a nuisance,” as they inflict heavy health and economic costs as well. In Iraq, about a thousand people were hospitalized due to respiratory problems, and the government declared a holiday to urge people to stay home, and many airports were closed.

The report also warned that the economic and health repercussions of sandstorms have not been studied in the same way as studies identifying the effects of other natural disasters.

The report quoted the academic at Oxford University Nick Middleton, who co-authored one of the first research studies on this issue, that the costs are very high, explaining that “dust storms can affect tens of millions of people, and their economic impact amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Middleton said that the link between health problems and sandstorms is not always clear, but it may be "enormous", noting that "there are strong links between dusty days and respiratory problems and some heart diseases."

However, one of the few estimates available on the economic costs of dust storms, from the World Bank, which spoke in 2019, stated that the global cost of dust and sand storms increased by 63% between 1990 and 2013 to reach $3.6 trillion. As for the Middle East and North Africa, it increased by an even greater rate of 123%, to reach $141 billion.

The "Haaretz" report indicated that this estimate reflects the losses incurred to the economy as a result of premature deaths due to excessive exposure to dust, noting that Iraq, for example,

Since 2013, it has suffered from an estimated 10,400 premature deaths due to dust, which imposed losses on the economy of about $15 billion, or 2.9% of GDP.

orange warning

He added that among the direct costs, there are losses due to closed airports, loss of crops and production stops, in addition to the holidays announced by the government, which the World Bank estimated at about 13 billion dollars, which means that the total costs of losses in the Middle East and North Africa region from sandstorms exceed 150 billion. dollars annually.

The report confirmed that these costs are heading towards increasing, noting that the Iraqi Ministry of Environment monitored 122 dust storms and 283 dusty days during the year 2013 alone, but an official in the Ministry of Environment warned during the past month that Iraq may suffer from 272 days of storms. hourly averaged over the next two decades, which could increase to more than 300 days by 2050.

In his research paper, Middleton documented, under the title “The Comprehensive Causes and Social and Economic Consequences of a Severe Dust Storm in the Middle East,” the repercussions of a particularly large sandstorm in early April 2015, which hit an area of ​​10 million square kilometers, including Iraq, Iran and the Gulf, It extended in the east to India and even to the Red Sea in the west.

The report pointed out that the storm forced officials to close schools in Qatar and parts of Saudi Arabia, which declared a holiday for workers, disrupted Saudi and Iranian ports, and forced airports in seven countries to delay, reroute or cancel flights. Construction work has also stopped in open spaces in the UAE, and Abu Dhabi canceled the Desert Challenge Rally because visibility was almost zero, and even solar power plants stopped working due to the accumulation of a lot of dust on the power panels.

According to that study, traffic accidents have increased in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, and cases of respiratory patients in hospitals have increased.

The report pointed out that Israel is not immune to dust storms, although it does not suffer from any of the same severe pattern as Iraq and other neighboring countries.

The report explained; That the phenomenon of climate change is responsible for the increase in these extreme weather phenomena, but experts say that climate change is only one of the factors, and it will nonetheless have a greater impact in the coming years because it causes an increase in desertification and more severe drought, noting that the sources of dust and sand storms It is mainly due to natural and not man-made factors, but these factors are exacerbated by human activity.

The report continued, explaining that poor land management causes the soil to become unprotected after the crops are harvested, and wars have caused farmers to abandon their fields, creating large areas of land where the winds can easily carry dust. Population growth and urban expansion also reduce the areas that previously housed plants that provide protection for the soil.

In addition, large bodies of water have dried up, such as the Aral Sea between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and Lake Urmia in Iran, which was once the largest lake in the Middle East. Dam-building projects have also caused draining of rivers and reduced water flows to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Saddam Hussein even played a role in draining the marsh areas in the south. Some scientists also believe that the weather phenomenon of La Niña has contributed to the recent rise in dust storms in the Middle East.

The report quoted a researcher at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Panfasha Kinosh, who doubted that Middle Eastern governments would be willing to make a great effort to address this problem, explaining that “sand and dust storms are often viewed in the Gulf region as natural phenomena that cannot be controlled.” To a large extent it.”

The report concluded by noting that governments in the region have taken some measures, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to plant 10 billion trees in Saudi Arabia and an additional 40 billion trees in the region in order to combat sandstorms and desertification. In 2016, an institute in the UAE launched a dust storm forecasting system that countries in the region can use to prepare for major storms.

But Middleton admits that even if there is cooperation between governments, fighting sandstorms will not be easy, but he added that they can at least mitigate their effects and address the local factors that make sandstorms worse.   LINK

The Political Struggle Within Parliament Deepens The Financial Crisis And Disrupts Projects

Posted On2022-05-31 By Sotaliraq   Baghdad/ Saif Abdullah   The political conflict between the coordination framework and the National Salvation Alliance, over the formation of the new Iraqi government, complicated the approval of the draft law on the country’s general federal budget for the year 2022, despite the country’s need to fund important service projects in the electricity and food sectors and opening the door for appointments for new graduates, which prompted the government of the President of the Council The outgoing minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, to prepare a draft law on emergency support for food security and development, through the Ministry of Finance, and send it to Parliament for a vote.

The political division between the two alliances has disrupted the emergency support bill, as it is a door to corruption due to the funds allocated to the project, which were estimated at more than 35 trillion Iraqi dinars (24.1 billion dollars), which reinforced citizens’ fears of entering the country into a suffocating economic crisis and disrupting service projects.

Exacerbation of unemployment and poverty rates. On the other hand, the Federal Court entered the crisis line. On May 15, 2022, it issued a ruling to cancel the Food Security Law sent by the Council of Ministers to the House of Representatives after a lawsuit submitted by Representative Basem Khashan.

In an indirect criticism of the Federal Court’s decision, Al-Kazemi indicated that “the failure to achieve all these necessities is a factor that obstructs the government’s role in conducting the daily matters that fall into the hands of providing the requirements of the Iraqi people, protecting the poorest groups, providing services and electricity, and limiting the rise in global prices.” .

For her part, a member of the House of Representatives, Suhaila Al-Sultani, confirmed that the federal budget for the year 2022 includes an item for the regions and governorates, and its delay will cause delays and delays for service projects in the governorates, especially appointments and fixing contracts and those present.

Al-Sultani said in an interview with (Al-Mada), that “the absence of a budget law will disrupt the economy of the governorates, especially since the southern and central governorates need strong infrastructure, and the approval of the budget must be done quickly to improve the economies of those governorates,” noting that “the current government has taken many laws. And the procedures are outside its powers as it is a conduct of business, which is what the Federal Court worked to respond to.”

In addition, the economic expert, Nabil Jabbar, explains that “the projects included in the regional development projects for the governorates will not be affected by the absence of a budget law or any other law, since the disbursement mechanisms for projects have been addressed in the first amendment to the Financial Management Law in accordance with Article 12 Second.”

And he indicated that "the absence of the budget does not allow the inclusion of new projects or the referral of new projects," noting that "the programs to reduce unemployment are not exclusively linked to the budget law, providing a business environment, loans, initiatives, commercial regulation, and dozens of factors that are not related to the budget law or any other Alternative law.

He explained that "Iraq has suffered from a lack of investment budgets from 2014 to 2020, with the exception of part of the investment that was implemented in 2019."

[size=45]In the midst of this, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, told Al-Mada that “the House of Representatives should have taken over the passage of the general budget law, but the so-called political blockage has disrupted the country’s annual plans with the hope of restructuring the government according to the constitutional contexts in the circumstances.”

And under the pressure of the high cost of living, it was relied on accepting the emergency food security and development bill through the government as an alternative to the general budget to give a longer political opportunity until the consensus reached its climax in understanding the future of the executive authority, as this shows.

He added, "Despite the foregoing, the preparation of the draft federal general budget law for the year 2022 was carried out in accordance with the effective Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019, the amended, as the legal timings require the preparation of the draft budget law on the basis of the state of the economy and financial expectations for the next three years, as stated.

In Article 3 / first of the above law (regarding budget preparation) and based on the text of Article 6 of the same law above, the preparation of estimates took place in July 2021, and they should have been submitted to the Council of Ministers in September after voting on them to be referred to the House of Representatives in order to legislate its law.

However, the dilemma occurred in the delay in proceeding with the draft budget law, which came as a result of dissolving the House of Representatives in preparation for the 10-10-2021 elections.

He added, "Depriving the country of legislating the general budget 2022, and we are approaching the middle of the year because of the interpretation of what the caretaker government's work is, is more harmful than not accepting the passage of the budget bill through the government that is still working...and it is the same government that the current parliament has accepted." To pass the emergency food security law between its corridors.”   LINK

The Dollar Depreciates Against The Dinar

Economie| 09:31 - 31/05/2022  Baghdad - Mawazine News   The dollar exchange rates witnessed, today, Tuesday, a decrease in the Iraqi Stock Exchange.  Selling price: 148,400 dinars per 100 dollars, buying price: 148,300 dinars per 100 dollars.   https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=194984

For The Fourth Month, Iraq Is Among The Largest Exporters Of Oil To South Korea

Shafaq News/ The South Korean Customs Administration revealed, on Tuesday, that Iraq ranked fourth and for the fourth consecutive month among the largest oil exporting countries to South Korea during the month of April of 2022.

The administration said in its statistics, seen by Shafak News Agency, that "Iraq came as the fourth largest oil exporter to South Korea during the month of April, at 6.488 million barrels, up by 2.1% from last March, in which exports amounted to 6.353 million barrels, up by 2.5% from The same period in 2021, in which exports amounted to 6.328 million barrels.

She added that "the quantity of Iraqi crude oil exported to South Korea for the first four months of January, February, March and April 2022 amounted to 22.503 million barrels, an increase of 12.9 percent over the same period in 2021, when these quantities amounted to 19.940 million barrels."

And they indicated that "Saudi Arabia ranked first as the largest oil exporter to South Korea last April, with a quantity of 26.691 million barrels, followed by the United States of America, with a quantity of 11.371 million barrels, and then Kuwait came third, with a quantity of 10.679 million barrels, and then the UAE came fifth, with a quantity of 5.963 million barrels." .

And she added, "Kazakhstan came sixth with a quantity of 5.280 million barrels, Russia came seventh with a quantity of 4.333 million barrels, Qatar came eighth with a quantity of 3.419 million barrels, then Mexico came ninth with a quantity of 2.899 million barrels, and finally Mexico came tenth with a quantity of 2.069 million barrels."  LINK

Parliamentary Integrity Proposes A Way To Recover The Dowry Money

The Parliamentary Integrity Committee submitted a proposal, which represented a new mechanism for recovering money smuggled outside the country.

A member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Ahmed Al-Rubaie, suggested that the government contract with solid international institutions to move in international courts to recover the money in return for a percentage of the recovered money. He stressed, that several factors contributed to closing some files of corruption, looting public money, delaying and obstructing the recovery process, pointing out that there are many pressure papers owned by the Iraqi government that can be used to recover Iraqi funds.  LINK

Abdullah Calls For Border Control And Coordination Between The Federal Government And The Peshmerga In The "Soft" Areas

Shafaq News / The Second Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sheikha Wan Abdullah, called today, Monday, to complete cooperation and coordination between the federal forces and the Peshmerga to enhance security in soft areas, while stressing the importance of controlling the borders to prevent the infiltration of terrorists and limit the drug trade.

The media office of the second deputy said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, "The Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Sheikha Wan Abdullah, visited the Joint Operations Command, and he was received by the Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, First Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, and the developments of the security and military conditions in general and the efforts of the armed forces were reviewed. In addition to seizing the land to address security violations and eliminate the remaining ISIS hideouts, the necessary measures to complete the formation of Brigade 20 and its deployment in soft areas to enhance security were discussed.

The statement added that "the deputy chairman of the council praised the role of joint operations," while stressing "the importance of controlling the borders to prevent the infiltration of terrorists, reduce the drug trade and prosecute criminals."

Abdullah indicated, according to the statement, "the need to complete cooperation and coordination between the federal military forces and the Peshmerga forces and fill the voids."

The statement continued, "The security situation in Sinjar and ways to restore stability and provide services to the people of the judiciary were discussed, and a reassessment of tasks and duties in line with the magnitude of the challenges," stressing the parliament's support for "military and security institutions with legislation and laws and the provision of financial allocations to the army in order to develop its capabilities." to carry out its duties in maintaining security and enforcing the rule of law.   LINK