Thursday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 4-13-23
Recession Fears Are Back To Haunt The Oil Markets
Today 11:45 Information/Baghdad.. Oil prices fell in early trading Thursday, after rising in the previous two sessions, as investors remained cautious due to persistent concerns about a possible recession in the United States and weak demand for oil.
Brent crude fell 38 cents, or 0.44 percent, to $86.93 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 34 cents, or 0.41 percent, to $82.93.
The two benchmarks rose 2% on Wednesday to their highest levels in more than a month, as data showing a slower rise in US inflation spurred hopes that the Federal Reserve (US central bank) would stop raising interest rates.
However, the previous monetary tightening, which saw interest rates raised to their highest levels since 2007, increases concerns that the US central bank’s focus on stopping inflation will curb economic growth and future demand for oil in the country that uses it the most in the world.
“The rally ended due to concerns that a possible US recession will weaken demand for crude oil,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.1% last month, less than economists’ expectations for a 0.2% increase, and less than the 0.4% rise in February, boosting expectations that the Fed will hold off on raising rates after a possible increase in May.
On Wednesday, markets shrugged off a slight increase in US crude inventories, attributing it in part to a congressional-mandated withdrawal of oil from the US emergency reserve and lower exports at the beginning of the month.
The Energy Information Administration said yesterday that crude inventories rose by 597 thousand barrels last week, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll, down 600 thousand barrels. Gasoline and distillate inventories fell less than expected.
And the oil market rose two weeks ago after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia agreed to reduce production. LINK
The Exchange Rates Of The Dollar And Other Currencies In The Kurdistan Markets For Today
2023.04.13 – Baghdad – Nas “NAS” publishes the exchange rates of the dollar and other currencies in the markets of the Kurdistan region, on Thursday, (April 13, 2023), according to monitoring specialists.
100$ = 144,300
100€=108$/109$
100£ = $121.5/$122.5
100$ = 1930 / 2000 Turkish liras
100$=4,830,000tman cash
1000k swede = 94$
1000k narwej=93$
1000k danimark=133.75$
https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=105553
A Representative Of The Law Explains The Most Important Amendments To The Budget To Ensure The Achievement Of The Goals
Today Information / Baghdad.. The deputy of the State of Law Coalition, Suad al-Maliki, confirmed, on Thursday, that the budget will witness amendments to some of its items and paragraphs to ensure that it reaches the people who deserve it.
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Al-Maliki said in an interview with Al-Maalouma Agency, that “many amendments should be added to the budget, especially the paragraphs that pertain to the segments of Iraqi society.”
She added, “The concerned parliamentary committees are working on making some amendments in the paragraphs and items of the budget, including adding doctoral campaigns for this year, health professions, and contracts.”
She pointed out that “the budget law is still under discussion in the Finance Committee, and we will try to hold discussions with the various ministries concerned in order to make some amendments within our constitutional powers.”
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mudar Al-Karawi, confirmed in a previous interview with Al-Maalouma Agency that discussions are underway about a number of decisions, the most prominent of which is making money transfers in order to increase the size of the governorates’ budget in the development of the regions. LINK
Shankali Reveals The Three Most Prominent Obstacles To Delaying The Passage Of The Budget
Today Information / Baghdad .. The head of the Health Committee, Representative Majid Shankali, revealed, on Thursday, the three most prominent obstacles to the discussions of passing the budget, indicating that it is very difficult to speculate on the date of approving the law.
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Shankali said, in a statement to Al-Maalouma, that “the draft budget law has three issues ahead of it that may take a long time from the discussions, despite the desire of all political forces to speed up its passage.”
He added, “The first issue is the disagreement of the political forces regarding preparing and voting on a budget for three years, as some forces reject that paragraph.”
He pointed out that “the second issue is related to the deficit, which reached 64 trillion, which constitutes 33% of the size of the budget, and therefore the discussion will intensify in order to reduce it, even if it is a hypothetical deficit. ”
Shinkali continued, “The third issue relates to the dispute over the price of a barrel of oil, which was set at $70 a barrel, which some see as a risk and like to reduce it to a lower level, while others see the opposite through the new strategy of OPEC Plus, which reduced oil production in order to maintain a price of more than 90 dollars in the future, “while he indicated that no one can predict a date and time for approving the law.” LINK
The Sudanese Advisor Suggested A Date For The Budget: Its Entry Into Force In A Month
1,116 The financial and economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, suggested today, Wednesday, the date for the approval and entry into force of the budget.
“I expect that the federal budget will be approved in the same format in which it was sent by the government,” Saleh said in a press interview seen by Taqaddam.
Daleh added, “I also expect that it will not take long until it will be approved and put into effect within a month from today’s date.”
And the House of Representatives announced, on Monday evening, that the Parliamentary Finance Committee had completed its discussions on the draft federal budget law, in the presence of the first deputy speaker of Parliament.
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, confirmed that the next few period will witness the second reading of the budget bill during a meeting of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, in the presence of its chairman and members.
Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives completed the first reading of the draft federal budget law for the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years (2023, 2024, 2025). https://takadum-news.com/archives/159199
US Treasury: We Are Ready To Assist Iraq In Re-Stabilizing The Exchange Rate
The first 2023/04/13 Yesterday, Wednesday, the US Treasury Department showed “great flexibility and willingness” to assist the Central Bank of Iraq in achieving stability in the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar.
This came during a meeting with the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, yesterday, Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Brian Nelson on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, according to a statement issued by the media office of the Central Bank.
The statement said: The two parties discussed facilitating the procedures of the Central Bank of Iraq in the process of financial transfers, indicating that the US Treasury showed great flexibility and willingness to assist the Central Bank of Iraq in its efforts to achieve stability in the exchange rate.
The statement quoted the governor as confirming that he had agreed with the Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury to intensify communication between the technical teams of the two parties to implement the facilitating steps agreed upon during the meeting, within a short period.
Yesterday, Wednesday, in the US capital, Washington, the meetings of the Iraqi delegation with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank began, in the presence of Al-Alaq and Finance Minister Taif Sami. https://alsabaah.iq/75232-.html
Parliament Begins The Second Reading Of The Budget In The Middle Of Next Week
Posted On2023-04-13 By Sotaliraq Baghdad / Firas Adnan The House of Representatives is preparing to complete the second reading of the budget in the middle of next week, and deputies confirm that this comes in conjunction with an upcoming meeting that brings together the Finance Committee with Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a Al-Sudani to listen to his viewpoint on the law and discuss issues described as controversial and contained in the articles, the most prominent of which is related to the size of the amounts and the percentage Disability as well as the period of its validity, whether it is one year or three years.
Representative Adnan Al-Jabri said, “Parliament is currently preparing to start the second reading on the draft budget law.”
Al-Jabri continued, “The representatives have a lot of observations that will be made during the presentation of the Finance Committee’s report on the law in the second reading.”
He did not rule out, “raising additional issues and proposals that were not presented during the discussions in the Finance Committee on the budget.”
Al-Jabri pointed out that «provincial representatives will have clear demands regarding the entitlements of their regions, which is a very normal matter».
Despite his talk about a “comfortable majority to pass this law,” he went back to clarifying that “this will not be in the form currently proposed in Parliament, but after making amendments and including the recommendations of the Finance Committee and the demands of the representatives.”
Al-Jabri pointed out, “The second reading will be completed next week, through the presentation of the Finance Committee’s report and its recommendations.”
And he believes, “The legislation of the budget law for the current year will be the fastest compared to previous years, given the history of its arrival in Parliament.”
Al-Jabri added, “The coming days will witness a meeting between Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a Al-Suadni and the Parliamentary Finance Committee to put some details on the budget and listen to his point of view on some controversial points.”
And he stressed, “Developing a budget for three years is a positive matter, because we will reach the middle of the current period, and the budget needs times related to voting, and then approval and publication, leading to the issuance of instructions to facilitate its implementation.”
Al-Jabri stressed, “The current budget will be legislated for six months or five months only, which is what made the government send a project for three years in order to ensure the implementation of its ministerial platform.”
However, Representative Moeen Al-Kazemi stated that “the trend within the Finance Committee until the present time and Parliament in general is to enact a budget for one year only.”
Al-Kazemi added, “The committee held about three meetings during the current week, headed by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, and in the presence of the committee’s chairman, Atwan Al-Atwani, and his two deputies.”
He pointed out, “The members of the committee have completed the review of the 67 articles of the law, and they are in the process of preparing their report in order to present it during the second reading.”
And Al-Kadhimi indicated, “The second reading session will take place according to the data available to us in the middle of next week, amid assurances from various political blocs of the need to expedite the approval of this law.”
And he added, “The observations that were recorded are different, but they are concentrated mainly on the increase in the amounts of the law to 200 trillion dinars, and this led to an increase in the planned deficit.”
Al-Kazemi agrees with Al-Jabri, that “the coming days may witness a meeting between the Finance Committee and the Prime Minister, in order to listen to his point of view and his observations regarding the articles of the law.”
And he stated, “The discussions will definitely lead us to reduce the budget amounts, and make the deficit in it possible to pay after reducing its amount, through the round for the past two years.”
And Al-Kazemi concluded, “The government has, since the current time, ample space to present a draft budget for the next year that can be voted on before the end of the current year if it adheres to the timings of the Financial Management Law, which requires it to submit the project no later than mid-October.”
For his part, Representative Jamal Cougar describes the deficit reported by the government in the draft budget law as unprecedented.
Cougar added, “Iraq has no fears of a deficit for this year in particular, for two reasons. The first is the existence of a surplus estimated at 30 trillion dinars, and the second is that the remainder of the fiscal year is approximately six months after the law’s ratification.”
He pointed out, “These two factors will put Iraq in front of a big roundabout, since the government cannot spend all the sums mentioned in the law during the remainder of this year.”
Cougar pointed out, “The fate of the budget law is to vote on it, because everyone is waiting for it, and the Finance Committee is serious about completing its work on the draft currently presented to it.”
And he finds, that “the Financial Management Law when it talked about the possibility of presenting budgets for three years, but this differs from what the government has gone to currently in presenting a single budget for three years.” LINK
Deputy: The Budget Will Not Be Delayed This Time
political| 09:34 – 04/13/2023 Baghdad – Mawazine News Representative Kazem Al-Shammari said, on Thursday, that the budget will not be delayed this time because “there is a parliamentary will towards its approval and ratification.”
Al-Shammari added, “We understand, as members of Parliament, the difficulties facing the ministries in implementing their projects through the delay in approving the budget,” according to the official newspaper.
He continued, “There is a parliamentary tendency to approve the budget, although it is not an ideal budget, but at least it provides legal and legitimate cover for the ministries to carry out their investment projects.”
He pointed out that “the differences are not the well-known aspect of political differences, but there is a difference in viewpoints, and these points of view will not change the will of the members of the House of Representatives to approve the budget.” https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=224468
Iraq Is Out Of The List.. A List Of The Most Indebted Countries To The International Monetary Fund
International 2023-04-13 | 04:35 612 views Alsumaria News – International The International Monetary Fund turned into one of the 3 largest creditors around the world during the current millennium, due to the difficulties facing the developing global economies.
Data from the International Monetary Fund show that there are 19 countries with debts exceeding one billion US dollars in favor of the Fund, out of the total number of creditor countries from the United Nations Economic Foundation, which numbered 94 countries.
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The total debt outstanding in favor of the International Monetary Fund, as of the end of the working day of April 12, is about 114.2 billion US dollars.
Existing debts mean funds that are not yet due for repayment, and do not include debts that have come due whether they have been paid or countries have defaulted.
In this report, it reviews Alsumaria News[/url]List of countries to which Saleh owes debts International Monetary Fund, in the amount of $1 billion or more, as of the end of the business day of April 12, 2023.
Argentina
ArgentinaToday it is the largest creditor by International Monetary Fund With an existing debt value of $33.25 billion, the country is facing difficulties related to the collapse of its local currency exchange rate, and the rise in inflation to historical levels that exceeded 100% in some months of last year.
And last year, I concludedArgentinapreliminary agreement with International Monetary Fund on a new $44.5 billion deal, a major breakthrough in the tense talks to restructure loans the country cannot repay.
Egypt
As forEgyptToday, it is the second largest borrower International Monetary Fund, with a total outstanding debt value of $13.2 billion, amid needCairoThe cash flow accompanying a recent economic reform program that I started last year.
The Egyptian government had announced that an agreement had been reached at the expert level with International Monetary Fund Last October, to obtain a new loan to address the financing gap, which the fund estimated at about $17 billion, and to solve the foreign exchange crisis.
And I receivedEgyptfirst batch of International Monetary Fund In December last year, while the fund documents show that the payments will be delivered toCairoIn March and September of each year, specifically from 2023 to 2026.
During the past year, he graduated fromEgyptAbout $23 billion, according to statements by the Egyptian Minister of Finance, Dr Mohamed Moait In the form of import payments, and investors exiting Egyptian debt instruments.
In the following lines, the list of countries to which Saleh owes debts International Monetary Fund, with a value exceeding 1 billion US dollars, as of the end of April 12:
-Argentina: 33,251,713,750
-Egypt: 13,419,696,671
– أوكرانيا: 8,980,269,172
– الإكوادور: 6,096,350,000
– باكستان: 5,566,083,335
– كولومبيا: 3,750,000,000
– أنغولا: 3,213,400,000
– جنوب إفريقيا: 3,051,200,000
– نيجيريا: 2,454,500,000
– كينيا: 1,766,686,300
– كوت ديفوار: 1,547,694,336
– المغرب: 1,499,800,000
– تونس: 1,496,457,911
– الأردن : 1,464,952,000
– Ghana: 1,254,415,500
– Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1,142,200,000
– Bangladesh: 1,050,210,800
– Sri Lanka: 1,041,892,508
– Cameroon: 1,008,780,000
