Iraqi News Highlights Monday Evening 5-29-23
Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner
An American Agreement Raises Global Oil Prices
Economy| 08:43 – 05/29/2023 Follow-up – Mawazine News Oil prices rose on Monday after US leaders reached a tentative agreement on a debt ceiling, although gains were limited by concerns about raising interest rates. Brent crude futures rose 54 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $ 77.49 a barrel by 04:37 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude recorded $ 73.29 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 0.85 percent.. Reaching the deal and approaching avoided default Paying off US debt has renewed investor appetite for riskier assets such as commodities. Ended https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=227890
Iraq And The International Monetary Fund Are Discussing Plans For The Pension Authority In Administrative And Financial Reform
Economy| 08:59 – 05/29/2023 Baghdad – Mawazine News The Pension Authority and the State Employees Pension Fund discussed with the International Monetary Fund in Amman the plans of the Pension Authority in administrative and financial reform.
A statement by the Pension Authority stated, “The head of the Pension Authority, Maher Hussein Rashid, and the Director General of the Pension Fund, Haider Jassim Hamzah, attended the periodic meeting called for by the International Monetary Fund to discuss the progress made for the retirement sector in Iraq and to listen to the plans of the Pension Authority with regard to administrative and financial reform.” .
The statement added that the Chairman of the Pension Authority reviewed “the vision and mission of the Authority and the State Employees Pension Fund, the strategic priorities for the coming years, and the most important problems and obstacles that the Authority seeks to address.”
Representatives of the International Monetary Fund, according to the statement, expressed their “satisfaction with the strategic priorities, which represent a clear road map that can be translated into work programs with specific timelines in order to achieve financial sustainability.” Ended 29/N33
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=227891
Iraq Between The Silk Road And The Road Of Development
Dr.. Bilal Khalifa Part One: The Silk Road and the Belt For several years, China has been seeking to restore the glory of the Silk Road, but this time not for the silk trade, but for the establishment of an economic alliance that extends on several tracks extending from China in the east to Europe via Russia and through Iran and Turkey and also to Africa towards the west.
The goal at its inception is economic (commercial only), but behind it are political purposes and the formation of a new global axis against the American western axis, as well as replacing the current system with another that writes with eastern fingers.
Years ago, I began to lay blocks in the edifice of the axis, including alliances, including Shanghai and BRICS, and other economic ones such as the Shanghai Stock Exchange of Petroyuan and the system A financial transfer as an alternative to Western Swift, as well as the establishment of the Asian Bank, which is opposite the World Bank.
The Silk Road shortcut is a new global alliance wrapped in an economic framework that includes countries that disagree with the American Western axis or countries that have been wronged by the West and want to be liberated from its control.
But does the Silk Road pass through Iraq?
The above words made it clear to us that the Silk Road is an economic alliance outwardly, but inside it is a political alliance and it could turn into a military one in the future (it takes a long time).
1- In the event that the road is material and economic
That is, the road is a path for ships, trains, or trucks. Two roads can pass through Iraq, namely:
The first: via Diyala coming from the Islamic Republic heading to Turkey or Syria.
The second is from the south: there are two possibilities:
The first possibility: From the port of Faw, but here the obstacle of the State of Kuwait appears because it owns the port of Mubarak Al-Kabeer and as it is a major member of the Asian Bank, which is the official sponsor of the Silk Road, while Iraq is a dialogue member, meaning that it does not have a decision within the bank, and therefore the opinion of Kuwait is given priority to China over the opinion of Iraq However, goods that exceed the capacity of Al-Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port may come to Al-Faw Port.
The second possibility, which is more likely, is that Iraq is a passage for goods that come from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, or the UAE, especially since the UAE has the infrastructure ready to receive, load and unload goods, of which Iraq does not own anything.
As for Saudi Arabia, it has entered into alliances with China, and therefore it is possible The goods route is from the ports of Saudi Arabia or the Emirates, and then passes through Iraq to Turkey and Europe.
2- In the event that the road is a non-material political and economic alliance
The Silk Road, as we said earlier, is an economic alliance at its inception, which will turn into a political and then a military alliance. Therefore, Iraq is very important in this map, as it has a great place in the global energy centers, as Iraq occupies the third place in supplying oil to China and first in supplying oil to India, and therefore that The eastern axis is very important for Iraq, which depends for most of its oil revenues on the East, which occupies 90% of its public revenues. Therefore, if China and India replaced Iraqi oil with oil from other countries, this means that Iraq will not be able to pay a quarter of the salaries of its employees.
Therefore, the road and the belt are important to China and also important to Iraq.
Part Two: The Road to Development
The essence of the development road is to build a path consisting of a road for trucks and another railway from the south and extends to the north and then Turkey, and according to the claim of those in charge of it that the road starts from the port of Fao, i.e. the unloading is in it, and here we have the right to ask the following questions
1- The port was not completed, and I believe that it is not completed due to external interventions that were mentioned above. Even if it is completed, its capacity is small compared to the ports of neighboring countries and the region, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
2- Iraq is politically and security unstable, and this is the reason for the delay in Iraq joining the eastern alliances, including Al-Harir. As we know that capital is cowardly and therefore merchants cannot risk passing through unstable areas.
3- Iraq was unable to protect the old train from the stones of children and from the construction on its tracks, so how can it secure a road through which materials for foreign countries pass, and we have experiences with foreign oil companies.
They cut off the road for companies to rent their cars and give contracts to their companies. Some of them even liked it and said (I throw two shots in the air and then earn what I want).
4- There is no financial allocation in the budget for the road, so where is it being funded?
5- The road does not contain laboratories, because the laboratories and factories announced by the government are two, and they are the petrochemical project, which is very old, and the other is the Al-Faw refinery, which is also old, and therefore there are no factories or support for the industry in the way of development.
6- Iraq in terms of development is only a path that will have two advantages
A- Transit fares for goods
B- There are rest stations such as restaurants, gas stations, and maintenance stations, and these stations have been given in advance as an entitlement (quota) to the influential parties.
7- Iraq has failed in all its projects except in which it relied on foreign companies such as oil, and this paragraph, despite its advantages in terms of quality of work, is very high, and the budget costs a lot. For example, oil companies take up to ten billion dollars annually as operating costs and profits.
8- The road will be operated from the north, meaning that the road will serve the region first, and then the region will take transit on it as it acts as an independent state.
9- The crossing with the north will be under the control of the region, and therefore the revenues will be for the region, and Iraq will not benefit from it.
Part three: the difference between them
1- The two are similar in that Iraq will be a passage for goods, but silk has promises (and this is not fixed).
2- Silk means that the direction and alliance is with the new emerging powers inevitably, which is the axis of Shanghai and BRICS led by China and Russia. As for the path of development, it is blocking the path to alliance with the East and replacing it with countries allied with the West, which are Arab countries.
3- Investment by neighboring countries involves political and security risks, and the path of development is through investment from neighboring countries, which is proposed to be nine countries.
4- The path of development has something strange in it. The advisory body for the project is an Italian company, and the advisory body for ports is also Italian. It excluded Chinese companies and replaced them with Korean ones that are owned by Western companies. This is suspicious, especially since its competence is far from transportation.
Views 47 05/29/2023 – 5:21 PM https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=34468
The Central Bank Discusses The Electronic Collection Project Via POS Devices
May 29, 2023 The Central Bank of Iraq discussed in the activities of the annual Iraqi banking conference organized by the Association of Private Banks, the project of electronic taxation and collection through POS devices.
The workshop, which was held in Baghdad, clarified the work mechanisms for launching and collecting money electronically, according to the Iraqi Council of Ministers Resolution No. (23044) for the year 2023, which will enter into force in early June of this year, while the Central Bank of Iraq confirmed that the necessary infrastructure is available with the best international specifications.
As in the process of licensing companies and ensuring their technical and security capabilities.
Central Bank of Iraq Information Office 29 – May – 2023 https://cbi.iq/news/view/2346
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