Iraqi Economic News and Points to Ponder Thurs AM 9-7-23
Is The High Price Of Oil Will Reduce The Budget Deficit? Financial Oversight Explains
Time: 09/07/2023 Read: 949 times {Economic: Al Furat News} The former director of the Office of Financial Supervision, Salah Nuri, said today, Thursday, that the benefit from the high oil price is to reduce the deficit and not resort to borrowing at a certain percentage contained in the budget law.
Nuri said to {Euphrates News} that “when the Ministry of Finance prepares the general budget in a conservative manner, that is, estimating the revenues on the basis of the price of selling oil at the lowest expected price, and with a deficit in the budget and remembering in the budget, if the selling price of oil increases, then the surplus is paid to reduce the deficit.”
And he continued, “The benefit from the rise in the oil price is to reduce the deficit and not resort to borrowing at a certain percentage contained in the budget law,” noting that “the percentage of budgets for the two years (2024-2025) there is no direct effect unless the rise continues when the aforementioned two years come.”
He pointed out that “the government must direct the increase in oil prices towards infrastructure projects, according to its priorities included in the budget.” From.. Raghad Dahham LINK
Confusion Surrounds The Railway Link With Iran.. What Is The Future Of Iraqi Ports?
2023-09-06 Shafaq News/ The move of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani, to lay the foundation stone for the first rail link project between Iraq and Iran, raised questions about the status of Iraqi ports after the completion of the project.
During the laying of the foundation stone for the railway link project between the Iranian region of Shalamja and the Iraqi city of Basra, last Saturday, (September 2, 2023), Al-Sudani spoke in the presence of the Iranian Vice President, Muhammad Mokhber, about the importance of the project in transporting travelers and visitors to the holy shrines from Iran and the countries of Central Asia, as well as On its importance in strengthening the infrastructure of the Iraqi economy.
Despite their agreement on the importance of the project and its impact on strengthening bilateral relations, the Iranian official said that it would lead to a “huge leap in trade exchange with Iraq,” while the latter believes that its goal does not exceed the transportation of passengers between the two countries.
In this context, the former Iraqi Minister of Transport, the current MP, Amer Abdul-Jabbar, considered the claim (the Iraqi side) a mere “lie” because the agreement to establish the line does not limit this goal, and because the axial load of the line’s loads is about twice the axial load if the line was dedicated to transporting travelers only.
Abdul-Jabbar added, in a video clip he posted on his official page on the “X” website (formerly Twitter) last Saturday, (September 2, 2023) that “laying the foundation stone while the citizens were preoccupied with the Arbaeen visit is intended,” describing the railway link between Iraq and Iran as “a bullet of mercy.” at the port of Al-Faw.
An invitation to reveal the people
Dr. Ghazi Al-Rubaie, a researcher and specialist in rivers, waters and international borders, points out that “the rail link, if it is for people, then this will not affect the ports of Iraq. However, the Iranian side mentioned that the project is linked to the Mediterranean Sea, and to the growth of trade with Iraq, and this is fatal to the ports of Iraq.” Especially the large port of Faw, which has not yet been completed.
During his speech to Shafaq News agency, Al-Rubaie calls on the Iraqi government to publish the agreement to clarify the goal of the project and reveal to the people.
Project goals
The railway link is “a national project that supports the Iraqi economy and the well-being of citizens and visitors by moving to the holy places in (Baghdad, Karbala, Samarra, and Najaf), away from public streets and roadblocks, and in order to preserve the lives lost as a result of traffic accidents,” according to what the Prime Minister’s advisor for transportation said. Dr. Nasser Saleh Al-Asadi.
Regarding the impact of the railway link on the Iraqi ports, Al-Asadi confirms to Shafaq News agency, “The railway link now is for the transport of passengers only and not for commercial transportation, so it will not affect the Iraqi ports at all, because there are price policies that the competent authorities will set according to the nature of the use of the ports, whether they are land, air or sea.”
He continued, “As for the ports of Faw and Umm Qasr, they are for commercial transport only, and not for transporting passengers, so there is a big difference in the process of using the two ports, and even if commercial transport takes place, the prices will not be the same as those in the ports, as the port privileges that the railway link will not be able to achieve.” Therefore, this project is completely different from what is in the port of Faw.
Project benefits
The idea of working on the railway link project between Shalamcheh and Basra dates back to 2009, according to the head of the Transport and Communications Committee in the Iraqi parliament, Zahra al-Bajari, agreeing with what Nasser Saleh al-Asadi said that the project is “for the purpose of transporting passengers only and not for transporting goods, and it has no impact on the two ports of Faw.” And the mother of the palace of the marines who are specialized in transporting goods without passengers.
Al-Bajari explained to Shafaq News agency, “The project has economic returns, as it will reduce the use of buses and at the same time transport huge numbers of passengers, so it will contribute to reducing congestion that occurs at the border crossings during religious visits, especially from Shalamcheh.” LINK
Kurdistan Council Of Ministers Demands Baghdad To Pay 16 Trillion Dinars
Economy , 07/09/2023 Number of readings: 141 Baghdad-Iraq today: Today, Wednesday, the Kurdistan Regional Council of Ministers called on the federal government to pay the region’s financial dues with the amounts included in the budget schedules.
The council’s media said in a press statement, “The Kurdistan Regional Council of Ministers held its weekly meeting headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and the presence of the Council’s Vice President, Qubad Talabani, and discussed a number of issues on its agenda.”
The Council of Ministers called on the federal government and the concerned authorities to “take immediate legal measures against all those who used weapons against the demonstrators and caused the death of a number of them, and to bring the perpetrators to justice so that they receive their punishment.”
After that, they discussed “the latest developments related to the implementation of the Federal Budget Law for the year 2023, and then the members of the negotiating delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government presented the results of their last meeting in Baghdad with the delegation of the federal government, regarding the rights and financial entitlements of the Kurdistan Region.”
And he stressed that “in return for the region’s obligations, the total financial dues must be paid, which, according to the Iraqi budget schedules for the year 2023, amount to 16 trillion and 498 billion dinars, which is equivalent, according to numbers, to one trillion and 375 billion dinars per month.
However, the Iraqi Council of Ministers, during its session held on 9/2023 3/ And outside the region’s budget and dues schedules, he decided to spend only 500 billion dinars in the form of loans for the months 9, 10, and 11, while after the month of 6, no amount was disbursed for the salaries of the months 7 and 8. And with the entry into force of the Federal Budget Law on 6/25/2023, the region has fulfilled its obligations under the budget law.”
The region’s cabinet called on the federal cabinet to “review its decision in a fair and equitable manner and to send the financial benefits to the region based on the numbers established in the tables of the region’s share of the budget, especially to send the allocated portion to the monthly salaries at a value of 906 billion dinars, so that the Kurdistan region can pay it to those who receive it.
Salaries in the region, like the rest of the recipients of salaries throughout Iraq, who receive their monthly salaries without delay, and therefore, the salaries allocated to the region in the federal budget must be spent according to the same standards, and not be treated differently and unfairly, but rather it must be in accordance with the constitution and the principle of equality in implementing the laws.” LINK
Points to Ponder on Truth and Error:
In the influence on the soul, error has been compared to a magnet concealed near the ship’s compass — As in the latter case, the more favorable the winds, and the greater the diligence and skill in working the ship, the more rapidly will it be speeded on in a wrong course; and so in the former, the greater the struggle for safety, the more speedy the progress to ruin — Tryon Edwards
The little I have seen of the world teaches me to look upon their errors of others in sorrow, not in anger — When I take the history of one poor heart that has sinned and suffered, and think of the struggles and temptations it has passed through, the brief pulsations of joy, the feverish inquietude of hope and fear, the pressure of want, the desertion of friends, I would fain leave the erring soul of my fellow-man with Him from whose hands it came — Longfellow
Error is not a fault of our knowledge, but a mistake in our judgment giving assent to that which is not true — Locke
Sometimes we may learn more from a man’s errors than from his virtues — Longfellow
From the errors of others a wise man corrects his own — Publius Syrus
The consistency of great error with great virtue, is one of the lessons of universal history — But error is not made harmless by such associations — False theories,, though held by the greatest and best of men, and thought not thoroughly believed, have wrought much evil — Channing
It is almost as difficult to make a man unlearn his errors as his knowledge — Malinformation is more hopeless than non- information; For error is always more busy than ignorance –
Ignorance is a blank sheet, on which we may write;
But error is a scribbled one, from which me must erase –
Ignorance is contented to stand still and with her back to the truth;
But error is more presumptuous and proceeds in the wrong direction –
Ignorance has no light, But error follows the false one –
The consequence is , That error, when she retraces her steps, has further to go before she can arrive at truth, than ignorance ——- Colton
