militia man 

Iraq is better insulated than the headlines suggest…The situation around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz remains tense.  Absolutely.  But Iraq has clear advantages right now because of the diversification, because […]

Al-Zaidi’s success depends on how he balances…competing interests and sets clear priorities. The US support is real but conditional, as Washington is watching closely for progress on stability, economic reforms, […]

Article: “President Trump personally called Prime Minister designate Zaidi to congratulate him.”   He extended an official invitation to him once the new government is formed…This is a good indicator coming from […]

Even with the current political mess and regional tensions, Iraq’s reforms continue to move forward regardless. The push to expand electronic payments is gaining real momentum. This is vital work […]

Al-Zaidi is a businessman, this new prime minister candidate.  He’s academic with experience, but he carries baggage.  It’s from his past role at the Al-Janoob Islamic Bank which faced restrictions.  […]

Oil prices are rising on supply concerns…The medium and heavy was somewhere around $122.  That’s big…because their budget is at $70.  That’s $50 over.  That’s a lot of money.  At the […]

The headlines can feel loud with regional tensions but underneath that noise the real signals we’ve been tracking continue to show a quiet but steady progress on reforms, diversification and […]

Because of Hormuz, what is taking place is Iraq is going to be in the driver’s seat at the end of the day and already showing signs of that…If they were to […]

Heavy crude topped up about $117 a barrel.  That’s a big big amount of money over the $70 budget, padding those reserves…They talk about their reserves.  They talk about their gold. […]

President now has up to 15 days to task the largest parliamentary block with forming the new government… That puts us out to about the 26th…Anytime before then they can still […]

Noise in the parallel market is quite common…The bottom line is the central bank is very much capable of maintaining control.  Yes, you see spikes back and forth but ultimately […]

Public statements right up until the move were calm and reassuring.  No plan to change the rate.  The adjustment was presented as a technical and prudent step to better reflect economic reality, […]

Back in 2007 the Central Bank of Kuwait repeatedly and publicly stated there was no plans to change the exchange rate or abandon the peg to the US dollar.  Officials […]