Samson: Private Sector Council Institutional and legal pillar of economic reform
3rd August, 2019 by Samir Al-Nasiri LINK
MilitiaMan: For those that think Iraq never does anything, well for 16 long years Samir Al-Nasiri has been hard at work and has worked along side the UN, IMF, WB, UST, etc. imo..
They have reported they concluded Article IV Consultation with the IMF on 08/26/2019 and then they inked an MOU with the UN to safely disburse monies for the donors from 02/2018 KW conference and noted it on 07/28/2019.
They will disburse payments through the internationally Basel II compliant banking system and payment systems, imo. What is fascinating is that they inked the MOU just days after the consultations with the IMF. The MOU came on the last Banking day of last week. Interesting they told us also they moved payments for salaries from 08/15/2019 to 08/08/2019, then today went even further by issuing payments even as of today..
Now recall yesterday that was all in the post 126. Then today bam!!, payments.. Wow!! Advanced systems in use per Al Nasiri..
I can’t imagine those contracts Frank talked about in a CC or video suggesting that those that were holding contracts would have been floored to see what the contracts had to offer them when presented to them.. Less a few zeros, I suspect.
Thus, the MOU is in place to help facilitate the monies so that the investors the laws are meant to protect have extra protections. With watch dog eyes and ears..
As Delta pointed out yesterday, the social media has been active to the GOI in regard to the exchange rate. ” Then Frank today shows the citizens know. Hence, could it be that the heated pressure has been turned up and they moved ahead to pay them even more soon than published before?
Time will tell, however, it imo isn’t going to be and October surprise.. imo.. lol Interesting things to think about, imo.. ~ MM
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Samson: Newspaper: Japan, US target trade deal by September
4th August, 2019
Japan and the United States have agreed to seek a general agreement on bilateral trade by September to bring views on tariffs on meat and the auto sector closer, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.
As part of his campaign to rectify what he calls global trade imbalances, US President Donald Trump has urged Japan to open up its politically sensitive agriculture sector as well as reduce US auto exports. The agreement was reached at a meeting between Japanese Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington, the newspaper said, citing unnamed trade sources.
The two sides hope to reach a trade deal before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the US president meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September, the newspaper said. On Friday, Motegi told reporters after meeting with Leighthizer that the two sides had made “significant progress” in bridging the trade dispute and agreed to hold another ministerial-level meeting later this month. LINK
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Samson: Saleh discusses with Chinese ambassador increasing trade exchange in oil, energy and railways
2019/8/4 14:18
The President of the Republic Barham Salih on Sunday discussed with Chinese Ambassador to Iraq Zhang Tao the increase of trade exchange between the two countries in the fields of oil, energy and railways.
“Barham Salih received at the Peace Palace in Baghdad on Sunday, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Iraq, Zhang Tao, affirming the depth of historical relations between the two countries,” the statement said. “He said.
In turn, Ambassador Chang Tao reiterated his country’s keenness to improve the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, especially in the fields of oil, energy and railways, stressing that “his government supports Iraq to achieve its goals of development and development.” LINK
Samson: Iraq declares its readiness to develop relations with Indonesia
2019/8/4 16:22
Justice Minister Farouk Amin al-Shawani said on Sunday his ministry was ready to conclude joint agreements with its Indonesian counterpart in various fields.
This came during his reception at his official office, Indonesian Ambassador to Baghdad Banbaj Antarikso. “Al-Shwani confirmed the readiness of the Ministry of Justice to develop relations with its Indonesian counterpart in all fields of mutual interest, as well as exchange of experiences between the two countries,” a statement from his office said.
“The possibility of signing legal agreements between the two countries and memorandums of understanding in the field of exchanging prisoners and information on those wanted for the judiciary,” Shwani said during the meeting.
“There is an Iraqi community in Indonesia and there is an Indonesian community in Iraq, which necessitates the attention of both communities. And follow up their needs to reach a joint legal agreement regulating the relations of the two communities in the two friendly countries.”
For his part, the Indonesian ambassador stressed the importance of concluding bilateral agreements regulating the legal side of the citizens in both countries, stressing his support for the Iraqi government through joint cooperation through capacity development and exchange of legal training courses between the two ministries in the two friendly countries. And wished him success in his work. LINK
Don961: Opportunity to reform the International Monetary Fund
Monday ,July 30, 2019
By José Antonio Ocampo
New York This month marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Bretton Woods Convention, which established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. For the IMF, this month also marks the beginning of the process of selecting a new managing director to replace Christine Lagarde, who resigned after her candidacy for the post of ECB president. There will be no better moment to reconsider the international role of the International Monetary Fund.
The most positive role played by the IMF throughout its history has been to provide important financial support to countries during the balance of payments crises. But the conditions associated with this support were often controversial. In particular, policies advocated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have left Latin American countries in the 1980s and Eastern European and East Asian countries in the 1990s, a stigma to the Fund’s programs, which has provoked negative reactions to this day.
It may be said that the stochastic effects of IMF programs are less damaging than the amendments to the gold standard before Bretton Woods. However, the next Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should oversee the ongoing review and simplification of the terms, as in 2002 and 2009.
The IMF also made another valuable contribution by helping to strengthen global macroeconomic cooperation. This proved to be of great importance during periods of turmoil, including in the 1970s, following the abandonment of the fixed exchange rate regime under the Bretton Woods Agreement. In 2007-2009, during the global financial crisis. (The International Monetary Fund also led the process of withdrawing gold from trading in the 1970s and 1980s).
But the IMF has increasingly been referred to a secondary role in macroeconomic cooperation, often led by specialized groupings of the major economies of the G-10, G-7 and, more recently, the G-20, while the Fund has provided the necessary support, including analysis Global conditions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), and not just those gatherings, should act as a leading forum for international coordination of macroeconomic policies.
At the same time, the International Monetary Fund should establish new mechanisms for monetary cooperation, including regional and interregional funds. In fact, the IMF should in future be the hub of a network of such funds. This network would support the Global Financial Safety Net, which has increasingly emerged in discussions on international monetary issues.
We should also credit the International Monetary Fund for its prudent management of international capital flows. The Bretton Woods Convention has gradually obliged States to reduce trade controls and other current account payments, but not those imposed on capital flows. An attempt to force states to liberalize their capitalist accounts in 1997 was unsuccessful. Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended the use of certain regulatory controls on capital accounts as a “blanket hedge” tool to manage external finance collapses and collapses.
However, some of the IMF’s initiatives, though important, have not lagged behind the impact they should have had. Consider the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the only real world currency created in 1969. Despite the important role that SDR allocations have played in creating liquidity and supplementing the official reserves of Member States during major crises, including in 2009, This tool has remained underutilized.
The IMF should rely more on SDRs more actively, particularly in relation to its lending programs, and deal with unused SDRs as “deposits” that could be used to finance loans to countries. This may be particularly important when there is a significant increase in the demand for resources during crises, as it will enable the IMF to effectively “print money”, just as central banks do during crises, but at the international level.
This must be accompanied by the creation of new lending instruments, a process that should build on the reforms adopted in the wake of the global financial crisis. As proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as recommended by the Group of 20 leading global financial governance figures last year, the IMF should set a currency swap arrangement for short-term lending during crises. Central banks from developed countries often enter into bilateral swap arrangements, but these arrangements generally marginalize emerging and developing economies.
Then there are IMF initiatives that have completely failed. In 2001-2003, attempts to agree on a mechanism to exercise sovereign debt collapsed, due to opposition by the United States and some major emerging economies.
The IMF has certainly made major contributions to sovereign debt crises, offering regular analyzes of countries’ capacity to pay during crises, and advising them to restructure unsustainable debts. But the mechanism for practicing religion is still needed, and it is important that it be returned to the agenda.
Finally, the IMF needs ambitious reforms of governance. First and foremost, based on the reforms approved in 2010 but not implemented until 2016, UNFPA should ensure that quotas and voting power better reflect the growing influence of emerging and developing economies. To this end, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should end its practice of selecting only Europeans for the post of Managing Director, and the World Bank should begin to consider selecting non-US presidents.
Lagarde’s departure represents a golden opportunity to put the International Monetary Fund on track to a more effective and comprehensive future. To seize this opportunity means more than just welcoming a new face on his head.
José Antonio Ocampo, a member of the Board of Directors of Banco de la Repubblica, the Central Bank of Colombia, a professor at Columbia University and chairman of the United Nations Development Policy Committee. And author of “Restructuring the International Monetary System (Other)”
https://www.project-syndicate.org
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* The opinions received do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the informational network
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