KTFA Members "News and Views" Sunday 6-25-2023
KTFA:
Clare: Justice: Publication of the Budget Law in the Official Gazette tomorrow
6/25/2023
The Ministry of Justice announced the publication of the financial budget law in the (official) Iraqi Gazette, tomorrow, Monday.
She indicated that the budget law will enter into force on January 1, 2023.
It is noteworthy that the House of Representatives approved the dawn of the 12th of June, the budget law, while the President of the Republic approved it on the 21st of the same month. LINK
Turk182: HCL will become Official immediately upon Gazette Posting. When does the CBI Flip the Switch? Moments before publication or Immediately after?
Scarlett10: That is the biggest question. But all I know is that we are really close. This week looks very promising.
Game of Patience: The HCL is still an UN-APPROVED Reform Law, needing to be Approved.
YoungSC: FA# 2979... The HCL is in the budget imo. Legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi confirmed, on Tuesday, that the oil agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region will be implemented within the budget items as soon as the law is published in the Official Gazette, stressing that the Democratic Party will not challenge the amended budget paragraphs
Game of Patience: Does publishing the budget do something to the value of the currency?
ButchB: IMO…publishing it in the Gazette, makes it official and gives it a starting point with all the new laws… but in a nutshell, just the posting of it does nothing. It merely makes it official for not only Iraqis but the world.
In my opinion, let’s see how should I phrase this?… the value of the dinar, and the publishing in the Gazette is no shorter than having a waterproof wick that has already been lit.
You see at this point in my opinion is the time in the game where you show em !
Let’s see what you’re holding because this is about to blow up In my humble opinion-We are now at the no stopping point. The fuse most definitely has been lit.
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Clare: With the Eid approaching and the markets booming, the dollar is flying in the sky of Baghdad
6/24/2023
The main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, closed today, Sunday, on the rise in the dollar prices against the Iraqi dinar.
The price of the dollar, with the closure of the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges, reached 147,550 dollars against 100 dollars, while the dollar prices this morning were 147,100 dinars against 100 dollars.
That the buying and selling prices in exchange shops in the local markets in Baghdad rose, as the selling price reached 148,500 Iraqi dinars, while the purchase price reached 146,500 dinars for every 100 dollars.
The pace of demand for clothes and foodstuffs, including meat, is increasing in Iraq, especially in the capital, Baghdad, significantly, with the approach of Eid Al-Adha. The markets are not as usual every year, despite the crowd of pedestrians in their streets, but in Iraq they are witnessing a remarkable state of stagnation and lack of shopping with the advent of Eid Al-Fitr.
And the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’a Al-Sudani, directed that the blessed Eid Al-Adha holiday be from Tuesday, corresponding to June 27, 2023, until Sunday, corresponding to July 2, 2023. Provided that official working hours in all government institutions will resume on Monday, corresponding to 7/3/2023.
The reasons for this are multiple, including the high prices of materials and commodities, and the significant decline in the purchasing power of employees and those with daily wages and limited incomes. This holiday also represents a new challenge for the poor and low-income class, in addition to the instability of prices and the stability of the price of the dollar in the parallel market. LINK
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Clare: About 20 million dollars, the volume of exchange between Iraq and Ethiopia
6/25/2023
The trade map website, which provides a trade map of countries (exports and imports), reported on Sunday that the volume of trade exchange between Iraq and Ethiopia reached about $20 million during the past year 2022.
According to the site's statistic, seen by Shafak News Agency, "The trade exchange between Iraq and Ethiopia during the year 2022 amounted to 19.598 million dollars, of which Iraq's exports accounted for 95%."
She added, "Iraq exported to Ethiopia during the year 2022 the amount of 7 commodities with a financial value of $18.719 million, the most prominent of which were mineral fuels and mineral oils with a value of $15.774 million. It also exported various chemical products with a value of $1.479 million, and fertilizers with a value of $566 thousand."
She indicated that "Ethiopia exported 9 commodities to Iraq with a financial value of $879,000, the most prominent of which was plastic at $611,000, coffee and tea at a value of $232,000, live trees and other plants and bulbs at a value of $26,000."
Ethiopia, or as it was called Abyssinia in the past, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa, and its capital is Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's total area is 1.100 million square kilometers and its population is more than 109 million. LINK
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Clare: Iraq reduces its holdings of US bonds to more than $6 billion
6/25/2023
The US Treasury Department announced, on Sunday, that Iraq has reduced its holdings of US bonds to more than $6 billion during the first four months of 2023.
The treasury said in its latest table, seen by Shafaq News agency, that "Iraq reduced its holdings of bonds during those months, starting from January to April, by $6.4 billion, to reach the 36th rank among the 38 countries with the largest holders of US treasury bonds." listed in the table of countries.
And she added, "Iraq's possession of US bonds in January amounted to 41.2 billion dollars, to decrease to 40.7 billion dollars in February, to decrease to 39.3 billion dollars in March, and to decline again in April to 34.8 billion dollars," indicating that "Iraq's possession of US bonds is in The month of January 2022 amounted to 40.8 billion dollars.
She pointed out that "Iraq was the fourth largest Arab country in the largest possession of US bonds, after Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait." LINK
Clare: The forgotten treasures of Anbar.. What if you invested?
6/25/2023
Anbar Governorate has a huge wealth of natural resources, which, if invested, would constitute an important economic resource, and would contribute to raising Iraq's levels significantly.
Anbar Governorate is located to the west of Iraq, and its area is (138,500) square kilometers, or about 32% of the total area of Iraq, while its population is (1.600) million people, according to the 2014 census.
Al-Anbar Province is bordered to the north by the provinces of Salah al-Din and Nineveh, Syria to the northwest, Jordan to the west, Baghdad Province to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Karbala and Najaf provinces to the southeast.
Forgotten wealth
Anbar province contains natural resources of gas and oil in large quantities, in addition to the many mineral resources such as gold, phosphate, iron, uranium, sulfur, silver, bitumen, sand, gravel, and others.
As for natural gas, it is the largest reserve in Iraq at about 53 trillion cubic feet, which meets the need for what Iraq imports from Iranian gas for about 3 thousand days, i.e. more than 8 years, while its financial value is estimated at more than 25 billion dollars.
The phosphate reserves in the Anbar desert are estimated at more than 10 billion tons, with a value of 1.5 trillion dollars, and constitute 9% of the total global reserves of this substance, which makes Iraq the second in the world in phosphate reserves after Morocco.
As for the reserves of crude oil in the Anbar desert, it is estimated at about 300 billion barrels, which is sufficient for export according to the current capacity for a period of 273 years. According to estimates, the reserves of iron metal are about 60 million tons.
In addition to other materials such as quartz sand, limestone, dolomite stone, kaolin stone, flint clay, porcelainite, bauxite, quartzite, black sand, montmorillonite clay, and atpelgate clay, in addition to other wealth whose size or reserves in the province have not been specified. precisely.
With regard to the agricultural aspect, the Anbar Governorate has 2.5 million palm trees and vast agricultural lands, and among the most important agricultural crops there are wheat, spring and autumn potatoes, then wheat, barley, yellow corn, and a group of vegetables, onions and fodder, and its agriculture depends on irrigation or on wells, springs and rain .
In order to exploit these enormous wealth, a number of important projects were previously established in the governorate, such as the Haditha dam and its hydroelectric station, the Diesel project, the glass and ceramics factory, and the cement factory in Kubaisa.
In addition, the Heet thermal station, which is the gas export station from the Akkas field, the oil export from the Akashat fields, the General Phosphate Company, the wet Euphrates Canal project, which includes Habbaniya Lake and part of the Tharthar Lake project.
no investment
Although Anbar Province is rich in resources not found in other Iraqi provinces, it suffers from a lack of investment in it, according to the head of the Geology Department at Anbar University, Dr. Abd Salih Fayyad.
Fayyad explained to Shafaq News agency, "Al-Qaim phosphate plant used to produce the best types of fertilizers, and it used to be exported from abroad, but now it is completely idle, although the existing reserves operate 10 phosphate plants in Iraq, and cement factories can also be established with them, because the layers What is above phosphate is suitable for cement and other chemical industries.
He added, "The purest types of glass sand are available in Anbar province, in which the percentage of silica exceeds 98 percent. It can be used in the manufacture of crystal, electronics and many other industries."
Fayyad pointed out, "The availability of excellent types of kaolin, both colored and white, which was used in the manufacture of ceramics and other industries, in addition to the presence of excellent types of sand that contain large quantities of heavy metals that can be used in strategic industries."
He added, "There are also large reserves of limestone, which is used as a basic material in the cement industry, which may accommodate dozens of factories, in addition to the spread of materials that are used in the construction industries in large quantities in the governorate."
Regarding medical tourism, the head of the Geology Department at the University of Anbar pointed out, "The sulfur springs in Kubaisa and Haditha, which can be used as tourist resorts for medical treatments, in addition to other areas characterized by their beauty and picturesque nature that are ripe for investment."
Despite the availability of all these resources, they are unused and idle, and if they are exploited in a correct, thoughtful and economical manner, they will contribute to the employment of thousands of manpower, and at the same time end imports from abroad
investment wheel
For his part, Suleiman al-Jumaili, an economist from Anbar province, stressed the need for the government to "start investing in the rich natural resources in the Anbar desert, whether through internal or external investment," stressing that "investment is of great importance in pushing the economy forward and supplying the general budget with funds." ".
And Al-Jumaili indicated, to the agency, that "the investment will lead to the opening of new factories, factories, roads and projects," noting that "the petrochemical plant in Al-Qaim, if it is used in the right way, will be the first in the Middle East, as is the case with the Crutch field."
Regarding agricultural resources, he noted that "the Anbar desert is arable land, and if these areas are exploited by industry and agriculture, Iraq will be one of the first countries in the Middle East to produce and export."
Al-Jumaili said, "The exploitation of natural resources will make Anbar an industrial and commercial city, especially since it has borders and outlets with three countries: Saudi Arabia (the Red Sea), Jordan (the Arabian Gulf), and Syria (the Mediterranean)."
Boring routine
In turn, the advisor to the Anbar governor for energy affairs, Aziz al-Tarmouz, stated that "the wealth belongs to the sovereign ministries, and it cannot be disposed of, in light of the existence of a boring routine that impedes re-work."
Al-Tarmouz said, for example, during his interview with the Agency, "The wealth of glass is idle, as well as phosphate," explaining that "the phosphate factory included 8 factories, and all of them have been suspended since 1976."
The local official pointed out that in the previous system, "20% of the Ministry of Finance's revenues came from the revenues of phosphate and sulfur factories, and now both are out of order, only gas and in one field."
Al-Tarmouz concluded by saying: There is cooperation between the Ministry of Oil and the local government in Anbar Governorate for the "optimal utilization of the gas and oil wealth," pointing out that "there are investment opportunities for a number of fields in the province, while three fields are still under construction and may enter service within coming years.” LINK