Zig’s Place Chatroom News Monday Evening 5-9-22
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Butterfly   SULAIMANI — The US dollar to Iraqi dinar exchange rates were up in the Kurdistan Region’s markets on Monday (May 9).  $100 was at 147,900 Iraqi dinars, 100 IQD higher than the previous day.

100 British pounds was at 184,000 Iraqi dinars, and 100 euros was at 158,000 IQD Iraqi dinars.

butterfly   SULAIMANI — Crude oil prices were up on Monday (May 9) compared to the previous day.

The price of Brent crude was stable at $112.70, up from $112.4 the previous day, and the price of WTI crude was at $109.9, up from $109.8.

butterfly   2022-05-09 05:21   Shafaq News/ The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) auctioned more than $195 million in foreign currency (forex) today, Monday.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that the CBI foreign currency sales in today's auction amounted to $195,557,250. The transactions were made at a weighted average of 1460 dinars to one dollar.

Our correspondent explained that 15 banks and 141 exchange companies cashed out $36.950 million. The remaining $158,607,250 went to boost funds abroad in the form of credit and non-cash transactions, with 29 banks meeting those requests.

butterfly   2022-05-09 01:15   Shafaq News / The dollar hit a two-decade high on Monday as investors searched for safety and yield due to growing concerns over slowing global economic growth and rising interest rates.

Surging inflation, the war in Ukraine, and tighter lockdowns against COVID-19 in Beijing and Shanghai, have left investors uncertain on many counts, but they are sure that U.S. interest rates are going up -- and the dollar is following.

"Moves in U.S. interest rates are not the only dollar support," said strategists at NatWest Markets in a note.

"Downside risks to global growth stemming from Ukraine and China are more pressing for Europe and Asia relative to the U.S., creating an air of 2018-style dollar exceptionalism."

The greenback made a 22-month high on the growth-sensitive New Zealand dollar and rose 1% to a three-month high against the Australian dollar as Asia's stockmarkets tumbled. It rose 0.3% to its highest since 2019 on the Swiss franc.

The euro was down 0.4% at $1.0508 and a whisker above a recent trough of $1.0469. The yen was close to two-decade lows at 130.96 per dollar, while sterling wallowed at $1.2294, barely above Friday's 22-month low. The Canadian dollar hit its lowest since December.

butterfly   In China trade data showed imports flatlined in April and exports rose 3.9% - a little better than expected and enough to hold the Australian dollar at $0.7006 and off January's low of $0.6967.

However the yuan was dragged to a fresh 18-month low of 6.7110 per dollar as lockdowns in Shanghai were tightened. Traders see the fallout from the inevitable drag on China's economy raking across the region.

The dollar index is up nearly 9% for the year and gained for a fifth week in a row last week. It equalled Friday's near 20-year high of 104.070 during the jittery Asia session.

Speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin might declare war on Ukraine in order to call up reserves during his speech at "Victory Day" celebrations also hurt market sentiment.

Putin has so far characterised Russia's actions in Ukraine as a "special military operation", not a war, or an invasion.

The U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark funds rate 50 basis points (bps) last week and strong jobs data has reinforced bets on further big hikes, with inflation figures due on Wednesday in focus as next risk of an upside surprise.

Futures markets are pricing a 75% chance of a 75 bp rate rise at the Fed's next meeting in June and more than 200 bps of tightening by year's end

Cryptocurrencies have been battered in the rush from risky assets and bitcoin was nursing weekend losses and near its lowest levels of the year at $33,780 while ether , which fell 4% on Sunday, was at $2,470.  (Reuters)

butterfly   2022-05-09 05:21   Shafaq News/ The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) auctioned more than $195 million in foreign currency (forex) today, Monday.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that the CBI foreign currency sales in today's auction amounted to $195,557,250. The transactions were made at a weighted average of 1460 dinars to one dollar.

Our correspondent explained that 15 banks and 141 exchange companies cashed out $36.950 million. The remaining $158,607,250 went to boost funds abroad in the form of credit and non-cash transactions, with 29 banks meeting those requests.

butterfly   A financial advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister has said he expects Iraq's revenues this year to exceed $150 billion.

Speaking to the state-controlled Iraqi News Agency (INA), Mudhar Muhammad Salih said sustained high oil prices, combined with non-oil revenues of "no less than $8-10 billion", will result in total revenues for whole of Iraq (including the Kurdistan Region) of at least $150 billion.

His estimates were based on IMF assumptions, including an average oil price of $104, and daily exports of crude oil from the Baghdad-controlled region of 3.4 million barrels per day.   (Source: INA)

Butterfly   Mishaan al-Jubouri threatens to split from the alliance of sovereignty and wonders where the trillion and 60 billion dinars are............ The leader of the Sovereignty Alliance, Mishaan al-Jubouri, threatened, today, Monday, to split from the alliance.

Al-Jubouri wrote, in a tweet to him on Twitter, that "the files revealed by the Governor of Salah al-Din Ammar al-Jabr showed that Ahmed al-Jubouri (Abu Mazen) seized a trillion and 60 billion dinars of people's money."

He added, "If the (Save the Homeland) coalition gets involved in targeting, dismissing or offending it, this will inevitably lead to its exit and other statures from the coalition, and it will be the beginning of major splits in the Sovereignty Alliance."

butterfly   US has completed training hundreds of Ukrainian forces on new weapons: Pentagon https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/05/09/US-has-completed-training-hundreds-of-Ukrainian-forces-on-new-weapons-Pentagon

Zig   butterfly : Aren't you sick and tired of Iraqi politics by now??.....lol....Jeez

Zig   @sheila: Just read about Stephen King....as an "author" you may find this of interest....he is 74...tries to write at least 2,000 words a day...and he does it the old fashioned way: with paper and a fountain pen......0

Sheila   Zig nice bit of information

Dave    butterfly Mishaan al-Jubouri also admitted he also accepted 2 million in bribes a few yrs ago....

Dave  at least he be transparent...........

Butterfly   Good for them! As they stated there are still sleeper cells: ............ 2022-05-09 16:16

Shafaq News/ A security source revealed that only a few ISIS members are still present in the Waqf Basin, between Al-Abbara and Abu Saida, 25 kilometers to the northeast of Baqubah.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, "No more than 16 ISIS elements are deployed in the Waqf Basin, including 17 villages."

"The surveillance cameras monitor daily the movements of terrorists in the agricultural villages."

"It is not possible to eliminate ISIS elements with missiles or mortar shells because they are present in residential villages, which would affect the civilian casualties."

The source denied that ISIS controls any village or hotspot in Diyala, especially since ISIS elements cannot appear publicly but attack at night with sniper weapons.

In 2017, Iraq declared final victory over ISIS after Iraqi forces drove its last remnants from the country; the militant group captured about a third of Iraq's territory.

The war has had a devastating impact on the areas previously controlled by the militants. About 3.2 million people remain displaced.

Yet, ISIS still has sleeper cells in several Iraqi Governorates.

butterfly   2022-05-09 11:12   Shafaq News/ The "Saving the Homeland" Alliance, which includes the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Al-Siyada Alliance, and the Sadrist bloc, confirmed that it is open to discussing all possible options with political forces to form a national majority government.

In a statement after a meeting in Erbil, the Alliance stressed the need for the Iraqi Parliament to "take its legislative role and its monitoring responsibility for the interest of citizens," noting that it "continues holding talks with independent deputies about the initiative for forming the next government."

Earlier, the Coordination Framework launched a 9-point initiative, while the Sadrist movement called on independent MPs to ally and form the government.

A source told Shafaq News Agency that the independent representatives in the Iraqi Parliament failed to reach a unified position about the two initiatives.

The source revealed that 46 independent MPs met yesterday at MP Haidar al-Shamkhi's residence to discuss the latest political developments, noting that a new decisive meeting will be held in the next few days.

Since the Iraqi Parliament held its first session on the ninth of last January, the situation became more complicated with the Framework insisting on having the "Shiite" largest bloc because the prime minister is entitled to the Shiites, while the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr refuses to engage in an alliance with the Framework forces and adheres to excluding the leader of the State of Law coalition Nuri al-Maliki from any alliance.

On the other hand, the dispute between the two Kurdish poles continues; the Kurdistan Democratic Party says the position of the President of the Republic is a "Kurdish entitlement, and not for a specific party." At the same time, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan asserts that this position is its right.

butterfly   The scene became more critical after al-Sadr announced his withdrawal from negotiations to form the next government and choose the next prime minister giving this task to the Framework to solve in 40 days but the Framework "failed."

The Sadrist Movement leader then called for independent deputies to form the next Iraqi government within 15 days.

The Shiite Cleric renewed his call to some of the Framework's forces to join the Alliance with the Sadrist bloc.

This situation created differences of opinions among the independent representatives over the initiatives of the Shiite rivals, the Sadrist movement, and the Coordination Framework.

butterfly   A representative from Basra reveals the stalled negotiations with Kurdistan on the oil and gas law, and hints at the possibility of dealing with the issue criminally and internationally

Monday 09 May 2022 22:21 ............. The representative of Basra Governorate, "Ali Shaddad," revealed that negotiations between the Ministry of Oil and representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which were launched last month, have faltered, to persuade the regional government to implement the Federal Court's decision to abolish the oil and gas law in the region, which may push the central government to proceed with the implementation of the law. Literally and dealing with Kurdistan according to Iraqi regulations and laws.

” Shadd said in a statement that Federal Court decision No. (110) in (2019) issued on 02/15/2022 nullified the oil and gas law inad the region based on a lawsuit filed by us before the judiciary. In order to achieve the principle of balance and equality among all Iraqi cities, and limit the oil file to the federal government represented by the Ministry of Oil.

He pointed out that the regional government insisted on violating the constitution and Iraqi laws through the continuation of the oil and gas law and the resumption of oil export operations in illegal ways and in isolation from the federal government.

"Shaddad" explained that Kurdistan's failure to comply with the decision of the Federal Court and the failure of talks with the Ministry of Oil allows the Iraqi government Dealing with the matter criminally by filing lawsuits against officials in the region for not implementing the rulings of the Iraqi judiciary, which is considered a crime according to the Iraqi Penal Code, in addition to the possibility of dealing with it internationally through understandings and agreements with Turkey to prevent the export of oil through its territory.

butterfly   Time for some more updates. Get your beverage.

Butterfly   10th May 2022   Iraq Business News Expert Blogger, Dr Amer K. Hirmis, has just published a book that takes readers 6000 years back to early Mesopotamian polity, culture, and religious codes which shaped the economy, and continue to shape much of the body of Iraq's polity, economy and society today.

Economic inefficiency, inequality and lack of sufficient employment are common threads that run throughout Mesopotamian/Iraqi economic history. The persistence of poverty, high unemployment, conscious discrimination against women, and a polity dictating blind allegiance and obedience from the subjects to the ruler, denied the Iraqis achieving economic development, the ultimate aim of which is the sustained improvement of the well-being of the people. Even when economic growth was attained, it was desperately non-inclusive.

With a novel approach to economic development, this book examines Iraq's economy over the past 100 years. It establishes the historical roots in the consumption patterns, nature of the producers, the economic structure, trade, monetary and fiscal policy and resource allocation. In all these areas the echoes from the ancient past are striking. The principles of Sumerian taxes are still applied in present-day Iraq.

The book proposes a set of conditions, which will need to be created for Iraq to achieve economic development and functional democracy, in the distant future.

Download the book free of charge. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Economics-Iraq-Ancient-distant-future-ebook/dp/B079ZS74XY/?pldnSite=1

Sah   I think it will be very hard for Kurdistan to become independent as Iraq owns all the oil and minerals rights on their land. Iraq just needs to shut the main oil pipe line to Turkey down, and make it illegal for Turkey to buy from Kurdistan.

Dave   Sah Kurds be very happy with HCL art 140......

Sah   https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=974566

Sah   National Oil Company of Iraq is supposed to control all oil sales in Iraq.

Sah Kurdistan turning their oil over to be sold by the National Oil Company in exchange for their percentage should tempt them now, hopefully with millions more to their budget. Otherwise Iraq is going to have to get tough on them. Iraq can make their oil illegal to buy from any country. Shut their oil lines down. Do something to get this oil and gas law implemented.

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