Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

Are we for sure it be coming out November 12th?

Originally Posted by CharmedPiper

Our article about Sunday November 12 is not old....that has not been cancelled yet that I have read.

I hope so! Been aiming at that date; maybe it will be for more then expected!

i had to step out for a while is there sill hope for the 10k hand out and the R/V?

The last paragraph sums it up--the answer is NO!!!

ًWill increasing salaries reduces inflation pressures?
11/11/2006
Source: Translated by IRAQdirectory.com


The Iraqi economy is suffering, currently, from the aggravation of inflation pressures which are negatively reflected on Iraqi citizens through lower purchasing power due to high prices, which means lower amount of goods and services that can be obtained by the same amount of income at different periods consecutive. For example, if a citizen can get certain goods and services with his income in 2005, he will find himself unable to get the same set of goods and services in 2006 with the same income as a result of higher prices. This will compel citizens to demand increasing their salaries and wages, especially government salaries since government employees can not increase their salaries by themselves, according to the law, unlike the private sector which can face higher prices by increasing the prices of goods and services it provides.

However, will raising salaries treat the increase in prices? Some countries did apply this measure, but can Iraq do it? Although Iraq is an oil country and the price of crude oil has risen in international markets, which means increasing the financial resources of the State and thus enabling it to increase the salaries of employees, but this can only be done according to certain conditions which may not be available in the Iraqi economy, at least in the recent time. The conditions required to apply this measure are as follows:

1 - The private workers must be more, at least the double, than the public sector workers who work in economy. If we look at the Iraqi economy, we find that the number of workers in the public sector has doubled in the last two years; first because of the weakness of the private sector in providing jobs opportunities and second because of the high salaries of government employees which attracted more citizens to apply for such employment or return to it, and this led to inflation in the number of public sector workers and hence low productivity.

2 - the annual inflation rate must be moderate and not more than 10%; thus, the required increase in salaries will be limited and can be provided by the Ministry of Finance, but when the inflation rate is very high, the number of public sector employees increasing and in the number of retirees is increasing too, as the case in Iraq, it will be difficult for Ministry of Finance to afford the large sums of money required to increase the salaries so that to be equivalent to the high rates of prices.

3- the State must have the ability to provide the increase in salaries through local revenue sources such as increasing taxes, increasing the revenue of public institutions through raising the prices of goods and services they provide to citizens or through reducing public expenditure and convert it to salaries so that they do not lead to the increase in the salary increase the supply of money and then aggregate demand and thus higher prices again. In Iraqi economy, we find that salaries and bonuses pensions constitute a considerable amount of public spending and if we add the amounts of government support of fuel, the ration card, water, electricity and health, it would make a significant proportion of public expenditure. On the other hand, we find that local revenue is still weak; whether tax revenues, because of the security situation and the weakness of private activity which represents the tax base, or the revenue of some public institutions that provide goods and services, which need to be supported by the Ministry of Finance to pay the salaries of its employees.
Prepared & Translated By:
IRAQdirectory.com Team
Iraq Daily Business Updates
From here we find that the increase in employees' salaries would lead to an improvement in the standard of their living in the short term but will increase inflationary pressures in the medium term, as happened after the increases in salaries in 2003 and 2004.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2533

Originally Posted by ordinaryseawoman

The last paragraph sums it up--the answer is NO!!!

ًWill increasing salaries reduces inflation pressures?
11/11/2006
Source: Translated by IRAQdirectory.com


The Iraqi economy is suffering, currently, from the aggravation of inflation pressures which are negatively reflected on Iraqi citizens through lower purchasing power due to high prices, which means lower amount of goods and services that can be obtained by the same amount of income at different periods consecutive. For example, if a citizen can get certain goods and services with his income in 2005, he will find himself unable to get the same set of goods and services in 2006 with the same income as a result of higher prices. This will compel citizens to demand increasing their salaries and wages, especially government salaries since government employees can not increase their salaries by themselves, according to the law, unlike the private sector which can face higher prices by increasing the prices of goods and services it provides.

However, will raising salaries treat the increase in prices? Some countries did apply this measure, but can Iraq do it? Although Iraq is an oil country and the price of crude oil has risen in international markets, which means increasing the financial resources of the State and thus enabling it to increase the salaries of employees, but this can only be done according to certain conditions which may not be available in the Iraqi economy, at least in the recent time. The conditions required to apply this measure are as follows:

1 - The private workers must be more, at least the double, than the public sector workers who work in economy. If we look at the Iraqi economy, we find that the number of workers in the public sector has doubled in the last two years; first because of the weakness of the private sector in providing jobs opportunities and second because of the high salaries of government employees which attracted more citizens to apply for such employment or return to it, and this led to inflation in the number of public sector workers and hence low productivity.

2 - the annual inflation rate must be moderate and not more than 10%; thus, the required increase in salaries will be limited and can be provided by the Ministry of Finance, but when the inflation rate is very high, the number of public sector employees increasing and in the number of retirees is increasing too, as the case in Iraq, it will be difficult for Ministry of Finance to afford the large sums of money required to increase the salaries so that to be equivalent to the high rates of prices.

3- the State must have the ability to provide the increase in salaries through local revenue sources such as increasing taxes, increasing the revenue of public institutions through raising the prices of goods and services they provide to citizens or through reducing public expenditure and convert it to salaries so that they do not lead to the increase in the salary increase the supply of money and then aggregate demand and thus higher prices again. In Iraqi economy, we find that salaries and bonuses pensions constitute a considerable amount of public spending and if we add the amounts of government support of fuel, the ration card, water, electricity and health, it would make a significant proportion of public expenditure. On the other hand, we find that local revenue is still weak; whether tax revenues, because of the security situation and the weakness of private activity which represents the tax base, or the revenue of some public institutions that provide goods and services, which need to be supported by the Ministry of Finance to pay the salaries of its employees.
Prepared & Translated By:
IRAQdirectory.com Team
Iraq Daily Business Updates
From here we find that the increase in employees' salaries would lead to an improvement in the standard of their living in the short term but will increase inflationary pressures in the medium term, as happened after the increases in salaries in 2003 and 2004.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2533

How hard is it??? I'm sure the people in these positions KNOW what needs to be done, they are out of options

I didn't see OFIC listed on the ISX last night when I was gettng my purchase order together....looks like some big home grown players are starting to emerge....man, I CANNOT stress enough HOW GOOD this is!!! Think of it as back pressure on a clogged pipe...the dinars will soon be flowing!!!

Public Iraqi Investment Company, OFIC, strikes advisory agreement with the Nasri Group, covering a portfolio of USD2.5 billion
10/11/2006
Source: AME Info


Omar Finance and Investment Company (OFIC), a public Iraqi company, announced that it has entered into a strategic advisory agreement with the Erbil-based Nasri Group to reorganize and fund the financial aspects of the Nasri Group's current business requirements in Iraq and its future initiatives.

Walid Al-Omar, chairman of OFIC, and Nizar Hanna Nasri, chairman of the Nasri Group, signed the agreement on July 6, 2006 on behalf of their respective companies.

The Nasri Group's (Nasri Group of Companies) diverse holdings are spread across the globe and throughout Iraq, extending from Dhouk in Iraqi Kurdistan to Basra. The Nasri Group is primarily engaged in the development of new and existing 4- and 5-star hotels (Sheraton Hotels under negotiations), the manufacture of construction materials, soft drink production plants (Pepsi-Cola), cigarette manufacturing and distribution, banking, trading, city center developments and residential complexes - among other projects.

For example, the Nasri Group is developing the Sheikhala project, a substantial Erbil commercial city center similar to the Solidere developed by Hariri in Beirut, a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant - under license - in Kurdistan, and Dream City in Erbil - a 4,000-unit residential complex.

The Nasri Group also has development plans in place in the petroleum, cement, transportation and shipping industries.

OFIC has begun setting up offices in Erbil and establishing the required public companies in Iraq, as well as approaching banks and its strategic investment partners.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2526

Re-evaluation of US strategy in Iraq under way
Agencies



Washington: A top US general said the military was preparing to recommend strategy changes.

"We have to give ourselves a good honest scrub about what is working and what is not working, what are the impediments to progress and what should we change about the way we are doing it to make sure that we get to the objective that we set for ourselves," General Peter Pace, chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on the "Early Show" on CBS television.

The Pentagon's top general said on Friday US military leaders were preparing to recommend changes in Iraq strategy but Rumsfeld's departure would not have a direct effect.

"The change in leadership itself will not have a direct impact on what we do or don't do in Iraq," Pace said. "We continuously review what's going right, what's going wrong, what needs to change."

Although he declined to state specifically what would change, Pace said what changes were needed were being evaluated by Gen. George Casey, the top commander in Iraq, and Gen. John Abizaid, the head of the command that oversees U.S. forces in the Mideast, as well as the joint chiefs.

"We're making our recommendations, we're having our dialogue, and we'll make the changes that are needed to get ourselves more focused on the correct objectives," Pace said.

Stung by a "thumping" defeat in Tuesday's congressional elections, President George W. Bush said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had resigned because there was a need for "fresh perspective" in Iraq.

Bush said he was open to any idea for a new approach and publicly reaffirmed a belief that "victory" was possible.

Meanwhile, Bush and his national security team will meet on Monday with members of a blue-ribbon commission trying to devise a new course for the unpopular war in Iraq.

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana, is expected to report its recommendations before the end of the year.

Members of the group will have a joint conference at the White House with Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.

The group will have individual meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, outgoing Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, and CIA Director Michael Hayden. They also will talk with Zalmay Khalizad, the US ambassador in Baghdad.

Robert Gates, picked by Bush to succeed Rumsfeld, has been a member of the Iraq Study Group,assessing alternative strategies for Iraq. He is resigning and will not take part in Monday's meetings, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.

Lawrence Eagleburger, secretary of state in the last two months of President George H.W. Bush's term, will replace Gates on the commission, said Anais Haase, Eagleburger's executive assistant.

Eagleburger, 76, was deputy secretary of state to Baker during the first Bush's administration and had a 27-year career as a diplomat.

Ali Allawi: the private sector's involvement in banking sector is negligible
Pointing out that investment opportunities are available but need to maintain security
10/11/2006
Source: Translated by IRAQdirectory.com


Iraqi ex-Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi, said that the Iraqi market in the private sector has little financial work which is mostly concentrated in the government sector, especially that it is linked to the budgets of the State.

Allawi explained that the current financial status of the country is good, oil revenues are reasonable and the budget is satisfying; however, there is some kind of a problem in Iraq which is not in the loss of financial resources, but in the way of using them to increase productivity and raise the standard of living.

He said that private banking sector and financial markets began to recover, but they need a period of stability before they take their natural course.

Allawi stressed that investment opportunities in Iraq are a lot, pointing out that the underdevelopment of the financial banking sector in the past requires large investments and development in order to do its part in the Iraqi economy.

He added that opportunities are available but they need political and security stability to achieve quantum leaps in the Iraqi economy. The State has inherited a series of procedural errors from: Saddam regime, the occupation authorities and the successive Iraqi governments which did not reform the administrative system and did not put strict regulations to run the State, and this granted access to the far and near to benefit from the finance of the State.

He said that corruption plays a great role in frustrating the economic growth that can only be amended by dealing strictly and without mercy with the parties who have contributed to the destruction of Iraqi economy.

About the stability in Iraq, exercising free economic and opening banks, Allawi said: "stability is linked to the security situation and the security situation is linked to the political situation which, in turn, linked to the adjustments that could occur among Iraqi parties". He added: "Iraqi people in all their components can reach a political solution that distributes roles, interests and responsibilities among the parties of society".
Prepared & Translated By:
IRAQdirectory.com Team
Iraq Daily Business Updates
He said that the losses of Iraq because of the absence of stability are estimated by 4.5 billion a year, including the State and enterprises due to sabotage, embezzlement and destruction.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2525

Assigning 243 construction projects to local firms and contractors in Basra
09/11/2006
Source: Prepared by IRAQdirectory.com


Head of the Reconstruction and Development Committee in the City Council of Basra, said last Monday, that the Council approved the allocation (243) projects to local firms and contractors to begin implementation.

Ghali Najim, head of the Committee, said in a statement that "the total cost of the allocated projects is (164) billion Iraqi dinars, and all of them are within the budget of developing regions for the year (2006) ".
Prepared & Translated By:
IRAQdirectory.com Team
Iraq Daily Business Updates
Najim explained that "the allocated projects cover the sectors of: water, sanitation, higher education, health, roads and bridges, education, municipal, water resources and communications, in addition to (14) projects in the field of electricity. "
He pointed out that there are other projects will be transferred after being studied by the supervisory commission.

The budget allocated by the Iraqi government to the province of Basra (southern Iraq) within the regions' budget of this year, about (258) billion Iraqi dinars to implement service projects in the province.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2522

Government of Kurdistan allocates 600 thousand dollars for establishing a hotel in Halabcha
08/11/2006
Source: Prepared by IRAQdirectory.com


The District Commissioner of Halabcha stated, last Monday, that a four-star hotel is being initiated in the city and the government of Kurdistan allocated (600) thousand dollars to implement it.

The District Commissioner, Fu'ad Salih Ridha, said that the hotel "will be built at the entrance of the city, on an area of five thousand square meters". He anticipated the completion of the hotel in the middle of next year.
Prepared & Translated By:
IRAQdirectory.com Team
Iraq Daily Business Updates
However, many of the people at Halabcha demonstrated, in the middle of this year, against the bad vital services in the judiciary (83 km south-east of Sulaymaniyah) which was exposed to chemical bombardment by the previous regime in (1988), and thousands of people were killed according to the Kurdish statistics.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2521

I concur 100%, it cannot wait!

Originally Posted by wciappetta

I agree with you. If this is going to have any significance at all then the RV must be connected to it and they cannot wait till the end of January to make it happen so now seems like the moment.

I think the BofA confirmed Rumor plus the gift adds up to RV time! I know I'm ready for it!
In fact i think its time for some of my favorite guys:

RV

We cannot wait!