Thread: Iraq/Dinar News until 5/23/07 Midnight CST

Kuwaiti Central Underprices repurchase

(صوت العراق) - 14-05-2007

(Voice of Iraq) - 14-05-2007

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KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait on Sunday reduced the repurchase rate for the second time in six weeks seems that the latest move to prevent speculators bet to lift the dinar's value associated with the American dollar.

Reducing CBK repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 5.5%, which reduces the cost of bank borrowing from the Central Bank of Kuwait for a week and will provide more funds in the market and ease upward pressure on the exchange rate.

The last time reducing the Kuwaiti Central repurchase rate was on the first of April, after four days of warning currency speculators to bet on the rise in the value of the Kuwaiti dinar associated with the American dollar.

"Said Steve Price regional president for research unit at Standard Chartered in Dubai "stop people from betting on the value of the currency. This move is an attempt to support it by reducing the desire to purchase the dinar. "

It was not possible immediately to reach officials of the Central Bank for comment.

The Central Bank did not issue a statement on the move. Leaving the basic discount rate unchanged at 6.25%.

It follows CBK normally moves the Federal Reserve Board (Central Bank of America) to maintain the relative returns of assets denominated in dinars. Central American and kept the prime rate unchanged at 5.25% after its meeting on the 9th of May.

And linking Kuwait and the Arab Gulf states five other currencies American dollar in preparation for the application of a monetary unit by 2010.

But speculation that some Gulf countries devalued their currencies will be lifted now that the timetable for the monetary unit is in doubt following the selection of the Sultanate of Oman last year, this deadline was not met.

The International Monetary Fund urged Kuwait on Sunday to resist market pressures to raise the value of the dinar, saying that any change in the peg to the dollar threatens to undermine confidence in the stable exchange rate.

Mohsin Khan, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia, the International Monetary Fund said that "gains from currency will raise the value of very limited. The cost to the loss of confidence in the stability of the currency. "

A survey conducted by Reuters in March Analysts expected March Kuwait candidate to be the first to raise the value of its currency.

Deutsch Bank said in the report last week that he expects to allow Kuwait dinar's value at a rate of three% over the next six months to control inflation.

The circulation of the dinar, which has been allowed to rise by about 1% against the dollar in May last year when the ceiling of the Central Bank to move the exchange rate of 3.5% at $ 0.28914.

The speculators are betting that Kuwait would allow the dinar to rise to offset the impact of the dollar decline on the cost of some imports, which raises inflation.

Deutsch Bank said that inflation fluctuated during the last nine months between 3% and 4% compared with the historical level of less than 2%.

According to data issued by the Ministry of Planning on Sunday, the rate of inflation was 5.15% in March driven by the end of March to rise because of the high cost of rent and foodstuffs.

She Kuwait blamed rising inflation on the retreat dollar, which had fallen to a record low against the euro in April. "Qatari Kuwaiti News Agency report in March says that linking dollarize seen as "a source of problems."

Mohsin Khan, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia, the International Monetary Fund said that inflation result of the increased cost of imports a small part of the problem.

"He said, "inflation is not a result of declining value of the dollar. The push inflation in the Gulf states is the huge amount of liquidity in the (financial) and government spending. "

With increasing pressures on the exchange rate, the Central Bank warned the market in March March that it might act to prevent speculators followed by reducing the rate of re-purchasing and intervention price for three months by 37.5 basis points and the price of redemption coupons major.

Translated version of http://www.sotaliraq.com/

المقررةThe Ministry of Finance : the inclusion of all state ministries and increases assessments
2007News reports-and the number of readings : 73-14 / 05 / 2007


-file Press

اكد.Mcdermseol confirmed in the Finance Ministry, it was decided that all ministries and state assessments and increases that fall within the Iraqi state treasury accounts funded centrally.

".The source added that "the institution not subject to controls central funding withheld by increases Service, which defines self-financing."

".Stating that "the increase caused some problem in the mechanism of grants between the two first centrally granted and the other does not grant it self-funded."


وزارة المالية: شمول جميع وزارات الدولة بالزيادات المقررة

Parliament discusses a number of laws and reconvene next Tuesday
أخبار و تقارير - عدد القراءات: 38 - 14/05/2007News reports-and the number of readings : 38-14 / 05 / 2007


برسBaghdad-file Press

.Lifting the First Deputy Speaker Dr. Khalid Al-Attiyah meeting, today, Monday, to next Tuesday after discussion of a number of laws included in the Council's agenda.

.Yesterday, headed by Dr. Attiya absence, the Chairman of the Council, Dr. Mahmoud Almchidani for undisclosed reasons discuss some draft laws, including the first reading of the draft law on social protection network, which provides for "minimum livelihood for Mwatinin of unemployed, the disabled, widows, and divorced .. The new law grants a monthly rate them according to the number of family members.

..I read of the social protection in the meeting of the House of Representatives, provides for a payment of an amount (50) thousand Iraqi dinars a month for a family consisting of one individual, and the amount (70) thousand Iraqi dinars for a family consisting of two .. .As well as the payment of an amount (90) thousand dinars for a family consisting of three members, and the amount (100) thousand dinars for a family of four, (110) thousand dinars for a family of six and over.

."Dr Khalid al-Attiyah during the meeting said that "will be reading Althaineh of the project next week to vote on its end of the week." كما .Also during today's meeting, the first reading of the proposed Act to amend the Criminal High Court (No. 10) for the year (2005), which aims to provide protection to the staff of the High Criminal Court.

وشه.The meeting also saw the first reading of the draft law to amend the first ministerial order No. (10) for the year (2004), which includes compensation affected by the "terrorist" acts and the military in terms of identifying the vulnerability before or after the fall of the former regime on April 9 April 2003.

.It was the second reading of the draft amendment to the Civil Service Act (No. 24) for the year (2004), which includes pay for the officer who resigned did not enjoy the holidays during the service.

.Also saw a second reading of the draft Accession Iraq to the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which aims to protect children from sexual abuse, and their involvement in military conflicts


البرلمان يناقش جملة من القوانين ويعاود الانعقاد الثلاثاء المقبل

Kirkuk : Compensation decision arrivals to the chagrin of the Kurds

(صوت العراق) - 14-05-2007

(Voice of Iraq) - 14-05-2007

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Irbil (May 14) and the agency (Lucky) Italian News-in a sudden decision may deepen the differences between the Iraqi government and Kurdish leadership on the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution on normalizing the situation in Kirkuk, Kurdish sources announced special "that the offices of the Article 140 received today a letter from the Iraqi government officially stopped organizing lists of Arabs coming to the city of Kirkuk and the Kurds deported them to dedicate their awards within next year's budget 2008."

The Iraqi constitution has a deadline of the end of the normalization process in the governorate of Kirkuk and other Kurdish areas of the disputed Khanaqin and Mandali, Sinjar and Shaykhan end of the current year 2007, but the Iraqi government is still "procrastinating" in pushing forward the process of normalization and the Kurds say, and accusing deliberate in "diluting" the crucial issue for them.

In an immediate reaction to this decision affirmed a leading Kurdish party Talabani, in a telephone conversation with (Lucky) this afternoon : "This decision totally unacceptable, because the decision unjust and unfair aim is to evade the government from its commitments towards the Kurds. It also aims at the abolition of Article 140 in the entire frequent adjournments do not know to what extent we will, and that this decision is contrary to the Iraqi constitution, which put a watershed of the end of the process of normalization end of the current year. How is expected from this government that respects the Constitution, which is the basis of the political process in Iraq at the time when the decisions in violation of it.

He added, "We expect the government of Maliki to drag and stalling in the implementation of its commitments towards the issue of Kirkuk, but we did not expect that contravene the Constitution in daylight, especially since this government has hundreds of advisers are well aware that such decisions be unloaded from the Constitution guaranteed, where shall not pursue a policy of selective materials because the Constitution every integrated implementation and binding on the Iraqi government.

The Kurdish leader, who asked not to publish the name "wait a little to discover the circumstances and motives and the truth of this resolution, we will not tolerate this prevarication permanent and will resort to other options to push the government to abide by its commitments toward the Kurdish people." The Constitution states that an end of this year expiration date for the normalization process in the province of Kirkuk which pass through three stages, namely : normalization in the city center, and then conduct a census to determine the national presence in the province. Finally holding of a referendum for self-determination in either attend or join Kurdistan province to the central government or remain a separate, and did not start any of those stages application so far despite pressure Kurdish thereon.

(Shs/Aki)

(Shs/Aki)

Translated version of http://www.sotaliraq.com/

Kurdish MP : Adoption of the law and contrary to the Ministry of Endowments

(صوت العراق) - 14-05-2007

(Voice of Iraq) - 14-05-2007

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Kurdish MP : Adoption Law of the Ministry of Awqaf inconsistent with the territorial government

Irbil (May 14) and the agency (Lucky) Italian News-Sadeq Kurdistan Parliament on Monday morning to the Ministry of Endowments, one of its clauses calling for the deployment of Islamic culture, the effects of a sensation among parliamentarians secularists and Islamists over the past few days, considering the Kurdish parliament that "inconsistent" and constitutional principles to certain parties, the Kurdistan known secular orientation. He said a member of the Kurdistan Parliament, Erez Abdullah, told Agence (Lucky) Italian news agency, that "this law passed in the Parliament in spite of the wide controversy over the many articles where debate heated debates in the parliament summoned to postpone the ratification today, But unfortunately been closed door discussions at today's meeting before many members of parliament, especially known orientations secular, it nevertheless was ratified law, and our belief in a democratic course, we respect the decision of Parliament in this regard.

Abdullah expressed his belief that "the texts contained in the Act inconsistent with the fundamental principles endorsed by many of the parties participating in the Parliament and in particular the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party who voted in favor of it, I also believe that this law contravenes even with the government in Kurdistan, which was introduced by Prime Minister Najirfan Barzani to Parliament.

"

The Parliamentary Kurdish that "the law in one of its calls for the deployment of Islamic culture within the PKK, and this raises questions could have been exploited by some hardline forces suspicious of the objectives, in addition to many of the texts that brooks extensive discussions."

The ratification of the law had been postponed to today because of the receipt of the text in the law refers to Islam as the only source of legislation, which it may, upon the point of view of some parliamentarians, "contrary" to the Iraqi Constitution. The meeting was postponed until today to ratify the presence of representatives of all religions in Kurdistan to participate in debates about the law in the parliament of Kurdistan.

The Kurdistan proposed draft constitution stipulates in Article VII, "the Islamic identity of the majority of the people of Kurdistan and principles of Islamic Shari'a is one of the main sources of legislation, and ensure full religious rights of Christians and Alaizidin and others in the freedom of belief and religious practice."

(Shs/Aki)

(Shs/Aki)

Translated version of http://www.sotaliraq.com/

Iraq benchmark legislation stalled
UPI

May 14, 2007


BAGHDAD -- A proposed oil law that US President George W. Bush calls vital to ending Iraq's civil strife is in serious trouble, The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

The plan, which has yet to be debated by Iraq's Parliament, is seen by critics as flawed with little chance of being approved this month, as Bush had hoped, the newspaper said.

"We have two clocks - the Baghdad clock and the Washington clock - and this is a perfect example," said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker from northern Iraq.

Even if the oil bill were passed in its present form, it still would not resolve the question of how to divide Iraq's oil revenue among Shiite, Kurdish, and Sunni regions - or how much foreign investment to allow - the Times said.

Republican leaders in Congress have warned that congressional support for the president's policies in Iraq could erode further if the oil bill and other benchmarks are not met by the end of summer.

The other benchmarks include holding provincial elections in Iraq, revising Iraq's constitution, and lifting a ban on former Baath Party members from holding government and military positions.

Can Iraq's neighbours help Cheney?
Published Date: May 15, 2007
By Mona Anis

Wrapping up a five-day visit to Iraq and four neighbouring Arab countries, United States Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Cairo on Sunday to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Defence Minister Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi. Cheney started his trip Wednesday with a visit to Baghdad, where he held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The talks, Cheney said, dealt with "a wide range of issues in Iraq and the region, focusing on matters like the Baghdad security plan, the ongoing operations against terrorists, as well as the political and economic issues that were before the Iraqi government."

His next stop was the United Arab Emirates. There, on Friday, Cheney used the setting of an aircraft carrier in the Gulf to deliver a tough message, not only to Iran, but also to all other Gulf states. "With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we're sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike," he said in a speech onboard the USS John C Stennis, according to news reports. A day later Cheney was in Saudi Arabia, where he met King Abdullah in the Saudi desert city of Tabuk. Of all the regional players, analysts say, it is the Saudis, more than anybody else, who can help the US extricate itself from the Iraqi quagmire.

But it is also the Saudis who have been most vociferous in blaming US presence in Iraq and the present Iraqi government for spiralling sectarian violence in the country. At the Arab Summit in Riyadh in late March, King Abdullah denounced the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of Iraq and warned that "ugly sectarianism threatens civil war." And late last month, the monarch refused to see the Iraqi prime minister when he toured a number of Arab countries. At the conference on Iraq in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal renewed his country's insistence on linking any support to the present Iraqi government to guideposts or benchmarks showing progress in curbing sectarian violence.

After long opposition, US President George W Bush on Thursday said he would consider setting benchmarks for progress in Iraq. Though the move is seen largely as an attempt to end a tense deadlock with Congress that is delaying money for US troops, it could well, analysts argue, help in providing Cheney with a leverage to placate the increasingly disenchanted Saudis. Cheney, who has long been Bush's trouble-shooter in the region, had been dispatched to the kingdom last November for a meetings with King Abdullah, which, analysts argue, did not fully succeed in garnering the required support. Cheney left the Saudi kingdom Saturday night for Cairo to meet Mubarak. Cheney was due to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah II later.

Mubarak and Abdullah, were expected to go into more details about their wish to see the US exerting some pressure on Israel to achieve progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front. Talks of the four Arab leaders with Cheney notwithstanding, most analysts in the Arab world are convinced no quick solution appears in sight. The Egyptian state-owned daily Al-Ahram carried an editorial Sunday that struck a sceptical note about the aim of Cheney's visit and the likelihood of its success. Under the tile of "For Peace or [against] Iran" the editorial questioned the wisdom of mixing "peace in Palestine, the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the American attack on Iran," arguing that the real aim of this deliberate confusion was to garner support for the US without the US being willing to offer the Arabs any constructive solution in Iraq or Palestine.

"We have to unite all [Arab] efforts to stop the bloodbath in the region and to establish comprehensive peace. For this to happen we have to take definite and clear-cut positions vis-a-vis the US which is the [Middle East] peace broker, but still does not want to link its interests to our legitimate rights," Al-Ahram editorial said. - dpa

Fuel shortages spark demonstrations



By Abdullah Ajel



Azzaman, May 13, 2007



Hundreds of farmers in the agricultural province of Wasit have demonstrated against lack of fuel for their agricultural machines and tools.



The farmers, who assembled at the mayor’s headquarters in the provincial capital Kut, said fuel shortages were preventing them from harvesting this year.



They raised placards and shouted slogans denouncing the government and the Oil Ministry for failing to make fuel available at a time the country sits on massive oil reserves.



Salman al-Awsi warned that the shortages, if not alleviated, will eventually lead to the destruction of this year’s grain produce.



Wasit is major wheat, barely and rice producer in the country.



Awsi said prices of fuel on the spot market were beyond many farmers’ reach. “If we buy from the black market that means the costs of planting and harvesting will soar,” he said.



He said huge swathes of agricultural land planted with grains cannot be harvested because of lack of fuel.



“There are more than 6,000 families whose livelihood depends on having the crops harvested as soon as possible,” he said.



Iraq faces acute fuel shortages and its refineries which met domestic needs under the former regime of Saddam Hussein are working much below capacity, forcing the authorities to import huge volume to meet demand.

AL-DA'WAH ELECTS IRAQI PREMIER AS HEAD OF PARTY
The Islamic Al-Da'wah Party elected Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as its secretary-general at a May 13 conference in Baghdad, party spokesman Haidar al-Abadi told a press conference, Al-Iraqiyah television reported the same day. The conference focused on the need to speed up the transfer of the responsibility for security from coalition forces to the Iraqi government, which will, in turn, expedite the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, al-Abadi said. KR

IRAQI PREMIER REITERATES NEED FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION...
Prime Minister al-Maliki has reiterated the need for national reconciliation with groups remaining outside the political process, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reported on May 13. Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, al-Maliki called political reconciliation the cornerstone for success in Iraq. "The more we prove that we seek to build national unity and defend the homeland, [the more] elements, sides, and figures [will] take part in the political process," he said. Referring to the groups outside the political process, he added, "We must open the door and create the environment and climate for them so that they can participate in the political process." KR