Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 06/05/09 - 04/09/09

Economic Effect

Smart card ..
Hilal miller
Iraqi academic researcher
Rafidain banks, started to work good and smart card banking and this is a step in the correct direction to serve the citizens and the provision of banking services to them in accordance with the latest modern technological methods similar to those of advanced countries the bank note that the use of this card will provide more than 250 service to the subscriber can be summarized as follows:

1. The delivery of monthly salaries to employees, retirees and covered by a network of social protection and the elimination of administrative and financial corruption and detect employees who receive salaries at the same time.

2. Pay water and electricity.

3. the payment of tax deductions.

4. transfer funds among the people.

5. can be used to familiarize staff with an e-card to control the process of entry and exit of the circles in which they operate.

6. will provide huge amounts of money the smart card of the state through the development of automatic exchange companies in remote areas.

7. would reduce the excessive monetary circulation of the Iraqi economy.

8. will provide more time for the owners of capital, trade and retirees who spend the trouble and hardship to go to the banks in order to withdraw the money or receiving a salary for employees and retirees.

9. will provide funds to the State Bank building and a new staff and the Director of the bank.

10. can take advantage of retirees in the overseas service.

11. the possibility of joint, which wants to withdraw, there is no specific ceiling on the amount that can be withdrawn.

12. to eliminate fraud in government departments through the use of fingerprints as a means ten touch tariff which is not subject to fraud.

13. is characterized by ATM in Iraq at the amount required to provide a common time limit not exceeding 17 seconds.

14. The use of ATM to eliminate brokers and Almstvidn imaginary, where it will provide huge amounts of money to the State as well as assist in the reduction of inflation, which characterized by Iraq.

15. Finally, the system do not need to contact the Board of work but according to the method oflien.

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Five-Year Plan

Fall conference, which began its work yesterday in Baghdad as part of the pursuit of the Ministry of Planning to prepare a development plan after missing a five-year economic program of the government during the past three years old and there was no progress is the level of ambition because of the nature of political and security challenges faced by the absent Madjal vision and effort perspective barely rise to the magnitude of the suffering of the citizens and if the government during the last set of development plans and investment for a period of one year under the banner of so-called balance of investment

Which were differentiated by the levels of production even in the 2008 budget last year, which has been described by observers and experts explosive ambitious budget, which reached the level of allocations of more than 50 billion dollars, but that done and barely made it a reaction to the ground because of the devastation of the long-infrastructure for all sectors as well as the disruption wheel production and trade and the prevalence of depressed state of financial and administrative corruption and the Madf government through the Ministry of Planning to prepare a development plan Khmip is an old tradition of economic BLACKLISTING justified the urgent need for strategic plans that require more than one year time ceiling in terms of the nature of projects and the possibility of carrying out economic reforms, which require some cases more than one year in view of the working papers presented at this conference we focused on the productive sectors of industrial and agricultural trade from the utmost importance to activate the national economy and liberating it from its excessive reliance on oil and towards the new spaces of the sources of funding and that the conference emphasized the importance of sector leadership private investment and open the door of their importance in the development plans of all the short, medium and long-term.

Regardless of the nature of visions and ideas at hand, which was absent visions and ideas to develop the oil industry production and export of Ahmiphma sector in the process of economic transition currently taking place which are supposed to take place gradually Maittalb dependence on the oil sector in the sustainability of development and access to the desired goal to say apart from that, this Conference represents a quantum leap and the direction of health reform and move towards sustainable development.

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sponsored by the Ministry of Planning and the presence of ministers, advisers and experts .. The five-year development plan seeks to move the wheel of production in the national economy

Was launched in Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss the five-year plan for the years 2010 - 2014, organized by the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation of 2014 and it is hoped to conclude its work on Thursday amid optimism out of the resolutions and recommendations to prepare an economic plan would include all productive and service sectors and physical.

The Deputy Prime Minister Rafie al-Issawi in a speech at the conference: the trends set by the national development strategy must be reviewed for reference in the joints are important Mtdmanatha, which confirmed the need to develop a program for the time horizon for achieving the full and optimal utilization of productive capacities and human potential and to achieve the quantitative and qualitative development of the items of the production process.

Issawi, The most important strategic objectives for the advancement of national development to achieve growth rates of economic and social well-being .. In addition to improving the quality of life and related basic services to citizens such as health, education, transport, electricity and municipal services, and others.

Issawi, also noted the need to activate and make way for the private sector to invest in areas that should not enter the State in which a competitor, but the sergeant's role and the supportive and encouraging and guiding. He focused on the importance of establishing the foundations of law and justice so as to achieve confidence and develop a framework and accounts for the provision of arbitration should be the other must take into account the five-year plan

For his part, Finance Minister Baqir Jabr Al-Zubaidi (term): The implementation of this five-year plan means that we on the right track and we have a clear vision of project implementation, adding that the Ministry of Finance participate in this conference in order to get out a clear vision and joint action with the Ministry of Planning, which sought to hold This conference is approved by the Council of Ministers.

Zubeidi and affirmed the need for coordination between the two ministries to design and build Almoisntin operational and investment so as to achieve overall economic development. Under-Minister of Planning and Chairman of the Central Agency of Statistics, Dr. Mahdi Al-Alaak (term) that the working paper presented at this conference will develop visions and ideas that would improve the service and the reality of health, educational and education in order to achieve the best standard of living of citizens. He noted that in the Ministry of Planning of the Kurdistan region this morning, Dr. Yusuf said that his ministry had begun to develop a detailed plan in the agricultural field as well as the development of other sectors and in consultation with the Ministry of Planning in the central government

For her part, representative of WHO, Dr. Naima for the short (term) that this is the best time to make progress in the development of Iraq in light of the global trend to support Iraq in all Alaftaat and trends, noting that economic progress and human development are the pillars of the articulated a stable and prosperous Iraq. Attention, senior adviser to Prime Minister Thamir Ghadhban told (term): that the government felt that the development plan for one year or two is not enough to make it prepares for the preparation of a five-year plan, noting that it is the first work to identify the vision, first in order to proceed to the merits of the implementation of detailed plan of work through the papers presented at this Conference.

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Iraq's cash needs may drive energy deal with Kurds

Tuesday May 19 2009

* Baghdad desperate for income after oil price fall
* Cash need may drive deal on oil exports with Kurdistan
* Deal could pave way for gas exports to Europe

BAGHDAD/DUBAI, May 19 (Reuters) - Baghdad's desperation for more cash to rebuild after years of sanctions and war could provide a long-awaited catalyst for a deal with minority Kurds on oil and gas exports.

Iraq's Oil Ministry on Monday rejected an $8 billion Kurdish plan to fill the Nabucco pipeline with gas for Europe, the latest spat in a long feud with the largely autonomous Kurdistan region over control of massive oil and gas reserves.

But it has made a concession on oil exports from the region, after two years of deadlock.

"Iraq is desperate for oil export money and hard currency, a potential driver for a deal with the Kurdish region that is much stronger than anything we've seen previously," said Samuel Ciszuk, analyst at IHS Global Insight in London.

Facing domestic pressure to boost income hit by the oil price slump and to increase sluggish output, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani gave permission earlier this month for the Kurdish north to start modest oil exports of 60,000 barrels per day from June 1. The Kurdish region said the flow could quickly reach 100,000 bpd.

But the two sides have yet to agree the key issue of how revenues would be shared. How that is resolved has implications for the Kurdish region's plan to export gas to Europe, as well as for future oil and gas contracts throughout the country.

WHO GETS WHAT?

The exports stem from production sharing contracts the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has signed with foreign firms, which Baghdad maintains are illegal. The oil ministry says only it has authority to validate contracts; the KRG says its deals are constitutional.

If Baghdad agreed to pay the companies from oil and gas revenues according to the contract terms, it would effectively validate the deals and concede ground to Kurdish and other regional claims to control over resources.

The oil ministry says income should go to a central pot and then be distributed as for the budget, of which the KRG gets 17 percent. The KRG, if it could, might use that to pay the firms.

"That would be the death of all other exploration agreements in the Kurdish region," Ciszuk said.

KRG contracts with oil firms call for them to be paid 18-20 percent of total revenues. It would be short if forced to pay with its share after the pot is divided.

"It's unfair to even suggest that Kurdistan repay the oil firms using its 17 percent share," Ali Hussain Balou, a Kurd who heads the Iraqi parliamentary oil and gas committee, told Reuters. "Any (Iraqi government) support for that idea would only complicate the problem and push things into a deadlock."

The committee's Arab deputy, Abdul-Hadi al-Hasani, said the firms involved, Norway's DNO International and Toronto-listed Addax Petroleum, should be paid their drilling costs rather than their contract entitlement. That would be a compromise until an oil law was passed, he added.

Iraq's cabinet approved an oil and gas law in 2007 that would help resolve deep disputes casting a shadow on the future of a country struggling to emerge from six years of violence.

But disagreement between Baghdad and the KRG has delayed the legislation's passage to parliament.

Once exports flow, the two sides were likely to come to some pragmatic agreement on revenues, analysts said.

Both sides need to see more income as Baghdad has been forced to cut the federal budget for this year three times due to oil's slump to around $60 a barrel from a peak over $147 last year. Iraq relies on oil for about 95 percent of income.

SLUGGISH PRODUCTION

Shahristani is under pressure to compensate for a decline of around 250,000 bpd in output from a post-war peak hit last May. Kurdish output could plug the gap more quickly than any other source available to the minister.
Iraq has the world's third-largest oil and tenth-largest gas reserves, but needs billions to overhaul energy infrastructure.

Even a deal on revenues from these exports may be insufficient to point the way for future deals and for any gas supplies to Nabucco, analysts said.

The deals with DNO and Addax were signed before the draft oil legislation was agreed, so Baghdad may be more inclined to allow them to go ahead than those signed later, analysts said.

"I think that the oil ministry is quite careful not to set a precedent that will encourage firms to continue signing deals with the KRG," said Valerie Marcel, associate fellow at international affairs institute Chatham House.
Baghdad has its own plans to supply gas to Europe from other fields, another reason it would resist the Kurdistan plan.

The firms hoping to export gas to Europe may go ahead with plans to build a pipeline to Turkey under KRG auspices and with no federal approval. But buyers and especially transit country Turkey, itself combating Kurdish separatist aspirations, would be reluctant to purchase without Baghdad's nod.

"That would be encouraging Kurdish separatism," said Al Troner, Managing Director of Asia Pacific Energy Consulting. "That would be a very hard sell in Turkey."

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Finance Minister, thank President Bush for extension of the matter on protection of Iraqi funds

The Minister of Finance Baqir Jabr Al-Zubaidi, a letter of thanks to President U.S. Barack Obama What kind of a resolution renewing the Order for the protection of Iraqi funds in the United States of America, which ends on 22/5/2009 in force for another year until the end of the day 22/5/2010.

The source at the Ministry of Finance of the reporter that came to the continuation of efforts to achieve stability and peace throughout our dear Iraq and enable the reconstruction and the provision of basic services to citizens and to achieve the desired economic growth to raise the level of welfare of the Iraqi people.

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The opening of the offices of a number of oil companies in Baghdad soon

The Iraqi Oil Ministry on the tongue and of the minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, near the opening of the offices of a number of oil companies in Baghdad.

Shahristani said at a joint press conference in Baghdad on Wednesday with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Fahmi, "the next few days will witness the opening of the offices of a number of Egyptian oil companies in the Iraqi capital, to identify project sites, which it is hoped to proceed with its implementation."

Shahristani also disclosed in the joint conference on the initiative of cooperation between Iraq and Egypt in the areas of oil and gas, saying that "the signing of the cooperation between the two countries came to the activation of joint activity in the areas of oil and gas and oil industry Mphasalha all."

He added that "the Egyptian side promised the opening of offices of the companies specialized in the oil sector of Baghdad during the next few, to start work in the area of drilling exploration wells, oil refineries and the development of piping and other projects."

For his part, the Egyptian Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmy, "The country is seeking for a strong partnership with Iraq in the areas of oil and gas," likely "a large Iraqi renaissance during the next term in the field of energy."

He explained that "next week will see the arrival of a specialist to determine the sites of action in the implementation of projects agreed upon in Iraq," he said, pointing out that Iraq needed the Egyptian expertise in drilling hundreds of wells to increase production of crude oil. "

The Egyptian Energy Minister Sameh Fahmi, left Baghdad on Wednesday after an official visit that lasted for hours.

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Iraq demands recovery of 19 billion dollars lost during the administration of Bremer

Iraq announced its adherence to retrieve the money wasted in the era of the civil administrator Paul Bremer or mis-use of the limits of which 19 billion dollars, with the regulatory agencies continue to Iraqi, American and discussed at the highest levels of federal appeals court decision the American possibility of moving the lawsuit on the matter. A member of the House of Representatives of the United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Sami al-Askari, Iraq maintained its claim that the recovery of money wasted in the era of the civil administrator Paul Bremer to Iraq after the fall of the former regime in 2003, he told (the extent) that the reports of wasting large amounts of money which the Iraqi the other was devoted to Iraq from countries that took part in the process of reconstruction in Iraq. The leader of the Dawa Party, said the amount that had been exploited in the period amounted to more than 19 billion dollars.

And eliminate the possibility of questioning Iraqi Americans waste money issues involved, he said that the minimum demands of the Iraqi government on this issue is the recovery of the sums wasted in other areas that have been allocated, but to call the bombing of the Iraqi side, then it is up to the Magistracy, which is the sponsor whose solution. He stressed the need to create the military of those files, because Iraq needs the money in the process of construction and reconstruction.

And lost huge sums in reconstruction have yet to bear fruit in the period that followed the fall of the regime Alambad, the back of the massive financial corruption in Iraq's history.

On a related level, the head of the Office of Financial Supervision, Dr. Abdul Basit Turki, and the U.S. Inspector General on Iraq reconstruction, Stuart Bonn federal appeals court decision, and the possibility of moving the case law on abuse of the Iraqi capital during the civil administrator Paul Bremer.

Discussed with the Turkish and Bonn, according to a press statement, examine the draft memorandum of understanding signed between the Supreme Council for the reconstruction of the Council of Ministers, and a multi-national forces, on the reconstruction in Iraq.

The Secretariat of the Council of Ministers has asked all departments and the competent authorities providing information about the financial irregularities that occurred during the Fterpaml U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer, and the need to provide guidance to the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of all the information available for any abuses that occurred on the Iraqi funds deposited in the Development Fund for Iraq, which was expenditure for the implementation of projects. The Secretariat explained that the registration procedure, or manipulation of some of the implementation of projects and fake, it would help Mwadp an action by government bodies and companies, which caused the waste of money. This directive comes after the authorities received information from the Government Secretariat of the International Council for advice and oversight, according to a federal appeals court issued a decision Amiraip includes the right to build a case against the people who manage money on Iraq, even under the administration of civil government.

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Shahristani: Iraq looks at the possibility of exporting the surplus of natural gas pipeline across the Arab Middle East and Europe

The Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told a news conference with the Egyptian Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmy in Baghdad, Iraq to discuss the possibility of exporting the surplus of natural gas pipeline across the Arab Middle East and Europe, and he was considering linking the Iraqi surplus gas pipeline, which begins in Egypt , in order to export gas to the Arab countries and then to Europe.

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UAE to withdraw from the GCC Monetary Union project

Emirates announced it would not accede to the Convention on GCC monetary union, the sources confirmed the accession of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

The official linked to the UAE's decision to withdraw the Gulf Cooperation Council to make the headquarters of the Central Bank of the Gulf in Saudi Arabia, instead of the UAE.

The source said the UAE foreign ministry official told a news briefing that the UAE had decided to not be party to the Convention on the Gulf monetary union, he was informed the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for Gulf Arab states officially do so.

The UAE official that his country wishes of the States of the Council will accede to the Convention mentioned success, stressing that the UAE continues to work on anything that might interest the citizens of the GCC countries and it will continue to play its role as an institution of the Council to achieve its mission and objectives.

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Kuwait presses UN to resolve outstanding issues with Iraq

Kuwait is seeking the support of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to resolve outstanding issues with its former invader Iraq, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Abulhassan, an advisor to the Kuwaiti ruler, told the official KUNA news agency that Baghdad had yet to fulfill its obligations, including the demarcation of borders and payment of war reparations.

"Kuwait wishes to see a stable Iraq and wants a resolution to outstanding problems between the two nations," Abulhassan said after handing a message to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband from the Kuwaiti prime minister.

"Over the past years, Kuwait extended every possible cooperation, but we are still awaiting Iraq to fulfill other obligations regarding the missing and prisoners of war, payment of war reparations and the return of stolen properties," he said.

"There are other permanent obligations on Iraq like implementing the issue of (land) borders, UN Security Council resolutions and maritime borders which have not been demarcated yet."

The UN Security Council demarcated land borders between the two Arab neighbours in 1993, but Kuwait says that parts of the border have not been marked yet.

Abulhassan said that he will hand similar letters to officials in France, Russia, the United States which along with China are the five permanent members of the Security Council and to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

The Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah raised the issue with Chinese officials during a visit to Beijing last week, he said.

According to Kuwaiti officials, Iraq owes Kuwait 25.5 billion dollars of war reparations for the 1990 occupation of the oil-rich emirate by Saddan Hussein.

In addition Baghdad owes the emirate around 16 billion dollars in debt. Kuwaiti newspapers have reported that Iraq has been pressing Kuwait to settle outstanding issues bilaterally but the emirate has insisted this must be done through the United Nations.

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