Zig’s Place Chatroom News Tuesday AM 11-2-21

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Butterfly   The Central Bank of Iraq decides to increase the housing sector allocations

Tuesday 02 November 2021 The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Iraq decided to increase the allocations of the housing initiative to the Real Estate Bank and the Housing Fund.

A statement to the bank’s media stated, today, Tuesday, that the administration of the Central Bank of Iraq decided to increase the allocations of the housing initiative to the Real Estate Bank and the Housing Fund by an amount of (2.6) trillion dinars, and the amounts were distributed by (1.5) trillion dinars to the Real Estate Bank, and (1, 1) Trillion dinars for the Housing Fund. “

It is reported that the initiative of the Central Bank of Iraq to support the housing sector contributed to solving an important aspect of the housing crisis in Iraq and brought about great economic development.” https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=936675

butterfly   Rising global oil prices

Tuesday 02 November 2021 Oil prices rose today, Tuesday, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reduced the pace of production increases expected last month, while China, the world's largest oil consumer, raised refinery operating rates to meet the rising demand for diesel.

Brent crude futures rose 28 cents, or 0.3%, to $84.99 a barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.2%, to $84.24 a barrel.

Oil rose to its highest levels in several years last week, supported by the recovery in demand after the Corona virus pandemic, and the adherence of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia, in what is known as the OPEC + grouping, to gradual monthly increases in production of 400,000 barrels per day, despite calls by major consumers to pump more of oil. https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=936620

butterfly  Iraq says Kuwait received $490m in Gulf War reparations ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Iraq has paid $490 million in Gulf War reparations to Kuwait, Anadolu reported the Iraqi Embassy in Kuwait saying yesterday.

"Iraq paid $490 million in compensation last Tuesday from the amount determined by the UN over the ousted regime's invasion of Kuwait in the early 1990s," the embassy said in a statement.

"Iraq will work to pay the remaining amount of the compensation [$629 million] at the beginning of 2022," the statement added.

In 1991, the UN ordered Baghdad to pay $52.4 billion in compensation to individuals, companies, governmental organisations and others who incurred losses as a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

In 2014, Iraq halted paying compensation due to the war against Daesh, which controlled a third of the country, but resumed payments in 2018. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211102-iraq-says-kuwait-received-490m-in-gulf-war-reparations/

butterfly   Now that is very good news folks.

Butterfly   2021-11-02 07:44  Shafaq News/ The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) auctioned more than $170 million in foreign currency today, Tuesday.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that CBI's foreign currency sales in this week's third auction amounted to $170,879,478, 6.92% above Monday's $159,275,516. The transactions were made at a weighted average of 1460 dinars to every dollar.

Our correspondent explained that 19 banks and 268 exchange companies cashed $51.46 million, while the $119,417,378 went to boost funds abroad in the form of credit and non-cash transactions, with 20 banks meeting those demands. https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/CBI-sales-in-the-currency-auction-bounce-after-three-session-s-decline

Butterfly   I want an electric vehicle bc this is uncalled for:.............................. 2021-11-02 05:21

A global energy crisis has sent prices for gas and coal soaring around the world, and this has turbocharged the recovery in benchmark London- and New York-traded oil futures, Bank of America Corp. analysts including Francisco Blanch wrote in a note.

Several oil traders have said $100 crude is fast approaching as demand outstrips supply and a climate-inspired slowdown in investment in new sources threatens to allow reserves to wither. A surge in gasoline demand along with a rebound in middle distillates -- think diesel and jet fuel -- coupled with refining-capacity constraints could accelerate the rally into 2022, the analysts wrote. ............... Brent Crude Headed for $120 by End of June, BofA Says ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/Brent-Crude-Headed-for-120-by-End-of-June-BofA-Says

Butterfly   Religious reference: We are not a party to the meetings of political alliances and the formation of the next government

Tuesday 02 November 2021 The supreme religious authority confirmed that it is not a party to any meetings, discussions, contacts or consultations regarding the conclusion of political alliances and the formation of the next government.

An official source in Ali al-Sistani's office in Najaf declared, "The supreme religious authority is not a party to any meetings, discussions, contacts, or consultations regarding concluding political alliances and forming the next government, and there is absolutely no basis for any of the news that promotes otherwise before. Some parties and entities in the media and social networking sites.”   https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=936713

butterfly   Iraq, Saudi Arabia "to sign $billions of Energy Contracts" 2nd November 2021 .............................Iraq and Saudi Arabia are reportedly about to sign energy deals worth tens of billions of dollars.

The state-run Al-Sabaah newspaper quotes Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar (pictured) as saying that Iraq is negotiating with oil giant Saudi Aramco to enter as a partner in contracts for gas exploration in the Western Desert.

He added that Iraq has intensified discussions with the Saudi company ACWA Power to build water desalination facilities and clean energy plants.

ACWA Power launched a successful IPO on the Saudi Stock Exchange last month, the biggest IPO on that exchange since Saudi Aramco's in 2019.   (Source: Al Sabaah)

butterfly   'Dana Gas payments from Egypt and Kurdistan surge 86% on higher oil prices 2021-11-02 07:31

Shafaq News/ Dana Gas, one of the largest private natural gas companies in the region, said payments from operations in Egypt and the Kurdistan Region has increased 86 per cent in the first ten months of the year.

Collections jumped to $283 million for the ten months to the end of October, from $152m in the same period in 2020, boosted by a rise in oil prices, the company said on Tuesday in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

Brent, the international benchmark under which two thirds of the world's oil is traded, has rallied more than 60 per cent this year and was trading at $85.04 a barrel at 10.20am UAE time on Tuesday.

West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, has increased more than 70 per cent and was trading at $84.24.

The levels of collections in both Kurdistan and Egypt have been “exceptional over the first ten months of the year due to the rise in oil prices”, said Dana Gas chief executive Patrick Allman-Ward.

“Continuing timely payment of invoices and the settlement of outstanding receivables is so important to providing us with the confidence to carry on with our expansion plans in the Kurdistan Region and Egypt.”

Oil prices have rebounded as demand for crude surges on the back of a strong recovery by the global economy, which slumped into its deepest recession since the 1930s amid the pandemic.

butterfly   The world economy is expected to grow 5.9 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Oil demand in 2021 is expected to grow by 5.8 million barrels per day, with global consumption hitting 96.6 million bpd, according to Opec data released last month.

The oil producers’ group, which meets this Thursday, expectsdemand for 2022 to exceed pre-pandemic levels, reaching 100.8 million bpd.

The rise in natural gas prices before the winter season has also increased the possibility of higher volumes of oil products being consumed to generate power, boosting overall demand.

Dana Gas, which owns a 35 per cent interest in Pearl Petroleum, had its share of collections from sales of condensate, gas and liquefied petroleum gas in Kurdistan jump 78 per cent to $150m in the ten-month period, up from $84m a year earlier.

In Egypt, the company collected $133m during the first ten months of this year, a sharp rise from $68m received in the same period in 2020, it said.

In September, an international arbitration tribunal awarded Dana Gas $607.5m in compensation for damages in a case against Iran's state-owned energy producer.

The dispute concerns a 25-year gas sales and purchase contract between Dana Gas affiliate Crescent Petroleum and the National Iranian Oil Company.

butterfly   oooops Sunday clocks fall back one hour, not forward.

Butterfly   oh boy here is another long one: Iraq is chasing its smuggled money in five countries

11-2-2021   Iraq is chasing its smuggled money in five countriesBaghdad – The Iraqi Federal Integrity Commission is heading to conclude memoranda of understanding with five Arab and foreign countries to open up prospects for cooperation and exchange of information on wanted persons and their money, and to organize requests for legal assistance to recover them and smuggled funds.

Since 2003, Iraq has been suffering from widespread corruption in most of its institutions and mismanagement, which has resulted in the loss of huge fortunes on fake projects and money laundering operations.

Moataz Faisal Al-Absi, Director General of the Money Recovery Department of the Iraqi Integrity Commission, said in a statement to the government newspaper Al-Sabah, published on Tuesday, “We are working to recover the smuggled Iraqi funds according to criteria that will be established to conclude memorandums of understanding, exchange information about wanted persons and their money, and organize requests for legal assistance.”

He stated that the Integrity Commission is in the process of concluding a number of memoranda of understanding with Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey and Poland, and the quest continues to go to other countries to conclude such memoranda to enhance cooperation with them.

He pointed out that the priority in selecting countries is based on belief and knowledge of the possibility of smuggled corruption funds in those countries, as well as a number of files that are supposed to be resolved.

butterfly  He explained that the recovery files include a set of documents about wanted persons, smuggled funds and a request for international assistance, and are presented to the countries where the accused or the convict is present in order to seize his money.

Last September, Iraq held an international conference to recover looted funds with the participation of the Arab League and Arab justice ministers, and Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi pledged at the time that he would not back down from recovering his country’s smuggled funds, calling for international cooperation to help him achieve this goal.

The two-day conference came out with a final statement in the form of recommendations divided into 18 points, the most important of which is encouraging the conclusion of bilateral agreements between countries, which helps Iraq recover its money, in addition to the importance of Baghdad issuing guidelines that simplify the money recovery mechanism.

Corruption was a major reason for the failure of successive Iraqi governments to improve basic public services, such as education, electricity, drinking water, the health sector, and others.

The fight against corruption was at the top of the demands of massive protests that Iraq witnessed for a whole year, starting in October 2019, when the government of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, in partnership with Iraqi militias affiliated with Iran, was involved in the killing of about 700 demonstrators and the injury of about twenty thousand others, in order to protect the regime. Corrupt religious parties in the country.

butterfly  No real figure is known for the amount of Iraqi money smuggled outside Iraq, as government and popular figures are in conflict about the truth of those funds that drained the country’s wealth.

Iraqi President Barham Salih had previously announced a bill to recover the proceeds of corruption and submitted it to Parliament, and sought to recover about 150 billion dollars that had been smuggled out of Iraq since 2003, which is a preliminary report, while there are much more estimates than that.

The Parliamentary Integrity Committee confirmed that the volume of smuggled funds outside Iraq is estimated at 239.7 billion dollars, a figure that exceeds the country’s budget for more than two years, stressing the existence of political pressures to obstruct the fight against corruption.

The committee stated that the money that was smuggled out of Iraq during the past years through fake receipts, was made through commissions paid to some officials for the purpose of facilitating smuggling operations.

The smuggled and frozen Iraqi funds abroad are still out of reach, despite successive assurances from various government parties that they should be recovered.

To recover these funds, Iraq needs an accurate information base, the use of financial auditing companies and international courts, while strengthening the government’s demand for evidence and concluding bilateral agreements with some countries to extradite the accused, in accordance with legal and judicial conditions and international treaties.  rawabetcenter.com

butterfly   Economist: The control of the powerful over the currency auction prevents the dollar price from changing

Tuesday November 2, 2021 | 08:43 AM   Economist - The control of the powerful over the currency auction prevents the dollar price from changingEconomist Wissam Al-Tamimi said, on Tuesday, that the influence of the influential on the currency auction will prevent the dollar exchange rate from changing, pointing out that most private banks are affiliated with influential political parties that stand in front of the exchange rate change.

Al-Tamimi said that “the parties that control the currency auction have made great gains after the rise in the dollar exchange rate, especially since most of them have large commodities and goods placed in stores, and therefore they made profits after buying them at the old price as well as benefiting from their returns in the currency auction.”

He added that “the influential will stand a stumbling block in the event that the dollar exchange rate is reduced in the budget, as most of their banks are working to earn profits from the currency auction, and any reduction that may occur will cause great losses for them.”

Al-Tamimi explained, “The recovery of the oil market and the entry of large amounts of hard currency into Iraq will contribute to increasing the incomes of workers in the currency auction, which will push them to stand in front of any attempt by the government to reduce the dollar price in the next stage, and it is likely to keep the exchange rate at its current status or a slight increase in next year’s budget    aynaliraqnews.com

butterfly   Al-Aqabi: Al-Kazemi’s government is a caretaker government, and the decisions it is currently taking are contrary to the constitution

Tuesday November 2, 2021 | 11:17 am   Al-Aqabi - Al-Kazemis government is a caretaker government and the decisions it is currently taking are contrary to the constitutionA member of the National Nahj Alliance, Hussein Al-Aqabi, confirmed that Al-Kazemi’s government is a caretaker government and the decisions it is currently taking are in violation of the constitution.

“We are following with great astonishment the insistence of the resigned caretaker government to exploit the current political situation and take dangerous strategic decisions in clear constitutional violation,” he said in a statement.

He added, “We reviewed the decisions of the Council of Ministers in its last sessions, which were held after the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of early elections, and they were very dangerous decisions that included granting exceptions to the instructions for implementing government contracts, referring a number of projects by direct invitation method, and appointing a number of special positions and grades.”

He continued, “It is known that these decisions contradict the constitution’s description of the current government as resigning and concerned with managing daily affairs, as stipulated in Article 64-Second of the Constitution (the President of the Republic, when dissolving the House of Representatives, calls for general elections in the country within a maximum period of sixty days from the date of the dissolution).

And the Council of Ministers in this case is considered resigned, and continues to conduct daily matters.) Accordingly, the administrative, financial and other decisions that are inconsistent with the state of managing daily matters taken by the Al-Kazemi government after the date of 10/10/2021 are legally void and a clear violation of the constitution, and the government must

butterfly   To step back from it and to stick to the conduct of daily affairs and its walking.”  aynaliraqnews.com

butterfly  Adel Abdul-Mahdi returns to parliament through three “independent” candidates

2021-11-02 02:31   Adel Abdul-Mahdi returns to parliament through three independent candidatesShafaq News/ An early political source revealed on Tuesday that the former Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, managed to obtain three parliamentary seats in the elections that were held on the tenth of last October.

The source told Shafak News Agency; The former Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, now has (3) winning deputies in the early parliamentary elections, who participated as (independents).

The source added; Those deputies, whose names Shafak News Agency keeps, and they are from Basra Governorate, will be part of the Al-Fateh coalition with the start of the next parliamentary session.

Massive demonstrations in Iraq in October 2019 toppled Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, with accusations of being involved in issuing orders to suppress the demonstrations that witnessed hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries, while activists demanded the trial of Abdul-Mahdi.   shafaq.com

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