Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Tuesday Evening 10-17-23
Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner
Oil Prices Fell More Than $1 Per Barrel
Energy Economy News _ Baghdad Oil prices fell slightly, Tuesday, after falling by more than a dollar yesterday, amid hopes that the United States will ease sanctions on oil-producing Venezuela and as Washington intensifies its efforts to prevent escalation in Gaza.
The government and opposition in Venezuela are set to resume long-stalled talks on Tuesday, which President Nicolas Maduro said would benefit the next elections in 2024, multiple sources said, a move that could lead to Washington easing sanctions.
Since 2019, the United States has imposed sanctions on oil exports from Venezuela, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), to punish Maduro’s government after the 2018 elections, which Washington saw as a sham due to human rights violations.
The two benchmarks rose last week due to fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East, with Brent crude rising 7.5 percent, the highest weekly gain since February.
US President Joe Biden will visit Israel tomorrow, Wednesday, at a time when it is preparing for escalation in Gaza, which has caused a humanitarian crisis and raised fears of a broader conflict with Iran.
The Biden administration is seeking to find ways to increase the flow of oil to global markets to limit rising prices. But any real increase in oil production by Venezuela will take time due to the recent lack of investment. 70 views 10/17/2023 – https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=36997
The Central Bank Denies “Information” Issuing A New Category Of Local Currency
October 16 14:18 Information / Baghdad.. The Central Bank of Iraq denied, today, Monday, that the bank has any intention to issue a new currency or a small or large denomination during the current period.
A member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ahmed Barihi, said in a statement to “Al-Ma’louma” that “talk about issuing a new currency by the Central Bank of Iraq is not true at the present time.” Berihi added,
“If a new denomination of currency is issued, whether small or large, it will not affect the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, but rather it will only serve and facilitate transactions in the simple market.”
A member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Iraq pointed out that “the Iraqi currency is stable and the existing denominations are sufficient.”
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Representative Nermin Maarouf, announced in press statements that the committee will discuss with the Governor of the Central Bank the feasibility and motives behind taking the decision to issue the 20,000 dinars denomination, the financial value of this denomination and other details related to its expected issuance. Ended / 25 AD
Tasks Of The Office Of Following Up And Coordinating The Work Of The Branches
October 17, 2023 Mission
1. Follow up and coordinate the work between the branches and the center and propose work mechanisms that would develop the work in the branches.
2. Determine the geographical area covered by the bank branches for field inspection teams.
3. Identifying the problems and needs of the branches, knowing their causes, and working to find appropriate solutions.
4. Evaluating the performance of the branches in coordination with the relevant authorities.
5. Coordination with the Department of Total Quality Management and Institutional Development for the branches’ implementation of the objectives of the strategic plan.
6. Follow up on the outputs of committee reports submitted by the center and coordinate with the branches to implement them.
7. Conducting periodic visits to branches to review their performance and determine their needs.
8. Coordinating with the office on everything related to the work of the branches (holding workshops and training courses and sending teams periodically (cohabitation for a specific period to transfer knowledge) and other matters related to the branches). https://cbi.iq/news/view/2448
Announcing The Auction Of Islamic Certificates Of Deposit
October 17, 2023 We would like to inform you that the auction of Islamic certificates of deposit numbered (ICD123) has been announced and has a deadline of (14) days.
The auction implementation date will be Sunday, 10/22/2023, according to what was published in the Central Custody System for Securities (CSD), and Islamic banks can participate from the date Publish the announcement until the day of implementation. https://cbi.iq/news/view/2447
The Minister Of Finance Participates In The Annual Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And The World Bank Held In The Kingdom Of Morocco
Sunday 15, October 2023 19:32 | Economical Number of readings: 656 Baghdad / NINA / The Minister of Finance, Taif Sami Muhammad, participated in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the Kingdom of Morocco (Marrakesh) for the period from 11-14 October 2023.
A statement from the ministry stated that the minister attended the opening session of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which thanked the King of Morocco for hosting the annual meetings for the year 2023.
The support of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund was presented to all developing countries in the world in their economic projects, whether financing projects or capacity-building projects to reach the advancement of economies. These countries.
On the sidelines of the annual meetings, a meeting was held with a number of finance ministers and governors, including the Libyan Minister of Finance, to discuss the issue of Libyan debts owed to Iraq and
the issue of the members and presidency of the Board of Directors of the Arab Bank for Development in Africa, since Iraq is a shareholder in this bank, and the Somali Minister of Finance, where Somalia’s debts owed to Iraq were discussed.
He thanked Iraq for its supportive position, and the requirements for scheduling this debt were discussed.
The Minister also held a meeting with the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieddin, where the priorities of the technical assistance provided by the Fund to Iraq were discussed, including
entering into the reform program, technical assistance provided to customs and taxes, restructuring the Rafidain and Rasheed banks, and providing the technical support required to complete it.
The Minister touched on the measures taken by the Ministry of Finance in implementing the unified treasury account and the extent of progress that contributes to its implementation.
The possibility of providing Iraq with experts and consultants to contribute to implementing the electronic payment system, reforming the banking system, and continuing to provide technical support in implementing the unified treasury account was discussed.
Minister Taif and her accompanying delegation also participated in the climate conference, which discussed the issue of confronting the challenges and risks of climate change and supporting opportunities for sustainability, and the extent of the impact of climate change on the region and the world as a whole.
The Minister met with the Administrative and Technical Affairs Department at the International Monetary Fund, and
the meeting included a discussion of the technical support provided by MITAK, which are the training and technical support units at the International Monetary Fund that contribute to providing support in the areas of financial management, taxes, customs, and the unified treasury account.
The Minister thanked the Department of Administrative and Technical Affairs for its efforts in supporting Iraq, especially the Ministry of Finance and its departments in the field of training employees on customs and tax automation projects, and praised the efforts made in implementing the unified treasury account, which is one of the topics that falls within the sphere of government concern.
Help was also discussed in providing consultants in the field of the electronic system (POS) to remove the obstacles that may appear during the implementation of the electronic collection, revenue and expenditure system.
The Minister discussed the issue of contributing to helping Iraq by preparing a consultant or expert well-versed in implementing the program budget and performance in the Budget Department.
She also discussed the issue of funds that were included in the budget law, including the
Development Fund, the Poverty Fund, the Basra Fund, and the Dhi Qar Fund,
as well as the councils that the Prime Minister was interested in, including (youth councils and councils). Development) and support its projects as they are strategic projects that serve the country.
She touched on the issue of technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund, where she explained that there are serious steps included within the program, as the Ministry of Finance is working to coordinate with the ministries represented by the Ministry of Electricity to activate electronic collection and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to expand inclusion in the social protection network and reconsider the inclusion of the eligible,
and the same is true for The Ministry of Commerce, the National Retirement Authority, government banks, and the Budget Department. In addition to the structuring of banks and the steps taken by the Ministry in this regard.
The Minister met with Jihad Azour, Director of North Africa and East Asia at the International Monetary Fund, and discussed the implementation of the 2024 budget, the extent of progress in implementing this budget, how the deficit was addressed in the budget law, and the future outlook for the 2024-2025 budget, in addition to government measures to pressure spending, control the deficit, and increase… Revenues, especially non-oil revenues.
The Minister also met with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) team, and the issue of supporting private sector projects in Iraq was discussed, especially the Baghdad International Airport project, renewable energy projects, and strategic projects included in the government program, as well as the paragraph of partnership between the public and private sectors, which was mentioned for the first time in the budget law for the year 2023.
The Minister and the delegation accompanying her concluded their meetings by meeting with Farid Belhaj, Vice President of the World Bank.
The World Bank projects financed by loans and the problems and obstacles facing their implementation were discussed.
They proposed holding a joint meeting with planning, the World Bank and the sectoral ministries benefiting from the projects to find solutions to them.
The issue of opening accounts was also discussed.
For ministries to benefit from projects funded by grants provided by the World Bank, as well as to discuss the IFMIS project.
The Minister explained the extent of the need for this important project, which will contribute to facilitating and simplifying procedures for financial management.
The latest developments were also discussed, and
they also explained that the World Bank will continue to provide technical support to the Ministry for the purpose of implementing this project. https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1083879
Points to Ponder on FEAR:
18. Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free. ~ Jim Morrison
19. Ones fear of rejection is ones fear of love. ~ Alexandria Honey
20. I’m intimidated by the fear of being average. ~ Taylor Swift
21. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. ~ Plato
22. “What do you fear, lady?” [Aragorn] asked. “A cage,” [Éowyn] said. “To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
23. Love is like jumping out of an airplane with no parachute. But there’s no need to be frightened, because that plane is still on the ground. ~ Jarod Kintz
24. There are two kinds of fears: rational and irrational – or in simpler terms, fears that make sense and fears that don’t. ~ Lemony Snicket
25. Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire. ~ Dan Brown
26. A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
27. Without fear there cannot be courage. ~ Christopher Paolini
28. I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always … so you must fight hard to express it.
You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you. ~ Yann Martel
