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

Ministry merges warehouses to thwart attacks



By Khayoun Saleh



Azzaman, November 17, 2006



The Ministry of Trade has decided to cancel several major food warehouses in the country, citing security as a major reason.



A food rationing system introduce by former leader Saddam Hussein to offset the impact of U.N. trade sanctions is still in place.



But despite the removal of the sanctions, Iraqis now get less food from the government than under Saddam Hussein.



The ministry blames mounting attacks on food convoys, insecurity on highways and administrative red tape for the problems in handing out food rations on time.



Most warehouses were looted and burned when U.S. troops arrived in the country and the ministry says it had almost to start from scratch.



The ministry’s fleet of nearly 3,000 trucks had all but disappeared.



The warehouse merger is taking place mainly in the most restive regions in the country such the Anbar Province, west of Baghdad, and the Sadr City in suburban Baghdad.

Broad agreement was reached on budgetary prospects and priorities for 2006, as well as on the implementation of related measures. In addition, there was a consensus that action needed to be taken to tackle inflation, including through monetary tightening, and allowing the exchange rate to strengthen (as conditions permit).

IMF reminder.

III. POLICY DISCUSSIONS

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/...06/cr06301.pdf

Plus

shortages of goods, as well as supply disruptions generally in the non-oil economy, will continue to put upward pressure on prices. But it remains important that the CBI take decisive measures to contain it before inflationary expectations become entrenched, [B]either by an effective tightening of monetary conditions and/or by exchange rate action.[/B]

4/ The balance sheet is valued using the program exchange rate; memorandum items are valued using the end-of-period exchange rate.

i apologize everyone, for my outburst.

Originally Posted by Adster

Am more in favour of the dinar being pegged to the SDR. I don't believe they will let market forces dictate the rate, too risky with the current state of Baghdad and insurgents etc, too many uncertainties and unnecessary. They will peg it either to the dollar or the SDR then say a year down the line when security has stabilised they may well let it float and it will rise from say $1.48 up to $3 or $4.

Just my thoughts.

woOt@your thoughts

World NewsFROM SHIPS IN THE PERSIAN GULF
2,200 US Marines head to an undisclosed Iraqi location
11/16/2006

The move, intended as a short-term measure, underscores the seriousness of the conflict in Anbar, where the insurgency is entrenched and well-organised and where US soldiers and Marines are getting killed almost daily.
About 2,200 U.S. Marines are headed from their ships in the Persian Gulf to an undisclosed location in Iraq's western Anbar province to help shore up U.S. combat power in an area riddled with insurgent violence.

The move, intended as a short-term measure, underscores the seriousness of the conflict in Anbar, where the insurgency is entrenched and well-organised and where U.S. soldiers and Marines are getting killed almost daily.

Maj. Matt McLaughlin, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said Thursday that members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit were "in the process of transitioning and moving'' from their ships to a transit point for deployment to Anbar.

He said he could not discuss specifics of their mission or exact destination.

It will be the 15th MEU's third tour in Iraq.

It participated in the initial invasion in March 2003 and returned in March 2005. About 30,000 U.S. troops already are in Anbar, which includes the trouble spots of Fallujah and Ramadi.

The province stretches west from Baghdad to the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

can anyone translate this article:
http://cbiraq.org/News_Ar-12-2006.pdf

Farmers in Dire Straits E-mail this
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Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily, Electronic Iraq, 17 November 2006

BAGHDAD (IPS) - Despite the Iraqi prime minister's optimism for the agricultural sector, the farmers who are struggling to survive tell another story.

In an address to Iraqi politicians this week, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki praised his government's performance in agriculture. Maliki highlighted the new state-supported crop prices, through which farmers would receive subsidies and encouragement to continue growing their crops -- but he did not mention how much the price supports would be.

"The prime minister seems not to be aware of the real problems we are facing here," Haji Jassim, a farmer from the rural Al-Jazeera area near Ramadi, told IPS. Speaking from a relative's home in Baghdad, he added, "What he is talking about would have been good if prices were the only problem, but someone should explain to him the other obstacles we are facing."

Jassim said that one of the main problems is lack of manpower, "since most of our young men who were not killed by U.S. and Iraqi troops are in jail or missing."

The frustrated farmer added that obstacles like lack of electricity, fuel and security in the field and "dozens of others, should be known to the man who claims to be our supporter."

Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, overthrown by U.S.-led forces in 2003, the government purchased crops from farmers in order to encourage them to continue planting. In this way, the government guaranteed that farmers would sell their crops, regardless of how bad the market was under the economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations in 1990.

Many farmers now even wish the Saddam Hussein dictatorship had remained in place, since economic hardship has become so severe under the U.S.-led occupation.

"What they call the 'condemned regime' used to supply us with everything we needed. Seeds, fuel, trucks, harvest machines and anything we might need," Ali Abdul-Hussein, a farmer from Diwaniya who used to produce rice but now works as a simple laborer in Baghdad, told IPS. "We were happy to get rid of Saddam, but now we wish to get half the services he used to offer us."

The Iraqi economy as a whole has been affected negatively by the occupation and the related problems it has brought to Iraq. Some estimates of the unemployment rate are as high as 50 percent, which is significantly higher than it was under the sanctions.

According to the Integrated Regional Information Networks, which is the UN's humanitarian news and information service, "Up to half of the national population is currently unemployed in Iraq, where women represent almost 60 percent of the total populace."

In 2005, Iraq's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs estimated a 48-percent unemployment rate.

Further hampering farmers is the fact that Iraq's inflation rate has soared to nearly 70 percent, according to the country's planning minister, Ali Baban.

Baban told reporters in September that prices had increased for all goods used to measure inflation, including food, fuel, transport, medical services and medicine, clothing, property, furniture and other essential goods.

Across Iraq, petrol and electricity, both of which extremely important to Iraqi farmers, have seen the highest increase: 374 percent over the last year. Also bad news for farmers is that the transport sector saw a 218-percent hike in prices.

Thus, the cost of farming, along with the average Iraqi's increasing inability to afford rising market prices, has made everyday life extremely challenging.

Lack of security is another problem that has hampered farmer's productivity.

"How can one deliver any crops to Mr. Maliki's warehouses? Militias are taking firm positions there and so if you are Sunni, they will kill you and take your money. But if you are a Shi'ite, then they will only take your money and release you for ransom," farmer Latif Hameed said in an interview.

One of the first and at the time famous sectarian killings carried out by Shi'ite militias was in the main Jameela wholesale market in Baghdad. Death squads killed 14 Sunni farmers from Madaiin while they were selling their vegetables to merchants there.

Since that time, the market has been effectively paralysed because the sharp increase in militia activity means most farmers no longer feel safe there.

In addition, some Iraqi farming experts blame malfunctioning infrastructure for hampering farmers' work.

Agriculture in Iraq will not improve in the near future "because our soil was corrupted by the water table rising due to a failure of functioning drainage systems," a university agriculture professor, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS in Baghdad.

Drainage systems depend on pumping machines that have come to a nearly complete stop because of electricity and fuel shortages.

"Lack of supporting material like fertilisers and soil treatment has affected agricultural operation in the country, and even when it is available it is too costly and badly manufactured," the professor added.

In a study to be published soon by an Iraqi economics institute, over 75 percent of the vegetables and fruit consumed in Iraq are imported from Syria, Jordan and Iran.

Originally Posted by Adster

Chaaaaa facking chiinnngggggggggggggggggggggggggg. Let me hear you say it?!

Straight from the horses mouth again!!!!!


EU Policy objectives in Iraq:
The Commission strategy for Iraq is firmly anchored in the 2004 Commission Communication “The EU and Iraq: a framework for engagement” (COM (2004) 417/1 of 01/06/2004)which illustrates the EU fundamental interest in seeking a greater engagement with Iraq based on three key objectives:
The development of a secure, stable and democratic Iraq
The establishment of an open, stable, sustainable and diversified market economy
Iraq’s political and economic integration into its region and the international system.
For the realisation of these objectives the Communication which was endorsed by the European Council of 17-18 June 2005 (see Council Conclusions 10255/05) sets out an action framework allowing for progressively closer EU-Iraq relations at a pace determined by the progress in the political transition and the security conditions in the country. The framework for engagement is structured around three distinct phases reflecting the timelines endorsed by the UNSCR 1546:
Phase I – Immediate Actions: for the period between 30 June 2004 until the elections of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) in January 2005. Humanitarian assistance, support to reconstruction and elections, informal political dialogue, engagement on the part of Iraq’s neighbours and the opening of an Iraq Office in Amman, were the main targets set forth by the Communication. This phase also included support to the creation of a multilateral framework for support to reconstruction under the auspices of the UN and the International Financial Institutions.
Phase II – Post elections: This phase, mainly centred on the constitutional process, was meant to see the intensification of the rehabilitation and reconstruction support, the starting of a formal political dialogue and the beginning of joint working groups in sectors of mutual interest.
Phase III – Medium terms: following the appointment of a constitutionally elected government, the EU would move onto negotiating a bilateral agreement, providing continued assistance for economic diversification and poverty reduction, encouraging the creation of a regional framework, gradually focusing assistance in the field of rule of law, democratisation and human rights, and, finally, the opening of a fully fledged European Commission Delegation.
The Commission so far has delivered on all key actions foreseen in phase I and is well advanced in implementing the actions foreseen for phase II. With specific regard to the political process, barely one month after the formation of the first elected government in Iraq, the first EU Troika visit to Baghdad took place in June 2005. On this occasion the EU indicated that it intended to intensify the dialogue with Iraq with a view to move into a formal political dialogue, culminating eventually into more formalised contractual relations between the EU and Iraq. In this context, the Commission has prepared in 2005 a proposal of negotiating directives for a Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Iraq. This was presented to the Council in December 2005 with the intention to offer the constitutional government the perspective of entering into negotiations on contractual relations with the EU in 2006. Preparations for the opening of a Commission Delegation in Baghdad are also progressing.2. Economic situation

Despite having some of the world’s largest oil reserves and considerable gas reserves, ample water and a tradition of attention to health and education, Iraq is now a country where all development indicators are dismal. There is a perilous mixture of low indicators, heavy dependence on oil, and large numbers of unemployed youth. Years of conflict, mismanagement and sanctions have isolated the country from international experience in most areas of governance.
After falling to US$ 12 billion as a result of the conflict, GDP recovered in 2004 to almost US$ 26 billion and per capita income to about US$ 940. Even if economic growth continues into 2005, GDP per capita will only be one fourth of what Iraq generated 25 years ago.
Although oil production and exports remain considerably below the pre-war levels, the main engine of recovery remains the oil sector, which accounts for about 70 % of GDP and over 98 % of exports and government revenues. The sharp increase in oil prices is having a significant impact on government revenues and public spending. While the international oil price has reached more than 60US$ a barrel, the domestic fuel prices in Iraq are among the lowest in the world, encouraging black market and fuel smuggling outside the country.
Another engine is private spending, which was on the rise because of increases in civil servants’ salaries and remittances from abroad. The extent of this spending is apparent in the increase in private sector imports. But security concerns have slowed down private investment and raised the cost of doing business in Iraq.
In November 2004 Iraq’s public debt was estimated at US$ 120.2 billion, of which almost one third (US$ 38.9 billion) was owed to Paris Club creditors. A major agreement was concluded with the Paris Club for a massive debt reduction plan, which would bring the debt down by 80% in three different phases. The first started immediately at the beginning of 2005, and the two subsequent ones are linked to the approval and completion of the IMF standard programme. The agreement with the Paris Club paved the way for other similar agreements for debt reduction with non-Paris Club countries, some of which were announced at the Iraq conference in Brussels.
Inflation, which spiked in the second half of 2004, has been low thus far in 2005. International reserves, which rose strongly in 2004, have been fairly steady in 2005. Iraq’s exchange rate peg to the dollar has to date been kept relatively stable, but the authorities need to adjust monetary policy to maintain the monetary framework that the peg provides.

WOoTTTTT!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by mogo

Are We There Yet! Or Are We Going To Be Rich By Christmas.

FILTHY RICH!!!

I think this question has been alluded to in this forum, but I haven't seen a complete reponse yet.

This question would be for Adster, RR, Mike, Susie, or anyone else that has this information. Are there international banks outside of Iraq, in fact, outside of the Middle East that have bank type accounts where we can deposit dinar and keep the currency as the dinar?

So that as the dinar value rises, we can take advantage of an increase in value without exchanging to another bankable currency.

For example would Barclays Bank in London or Credit Suisse in Zurich allow us to deposit dinar without exchanging? I would like to hear some opinions on this.

My hope is that with an account established in the millions of dinar, a certificate of deposit (108) could be issued as a financial instrument.
Comments anybody?