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

Sorry if already posted.

UK WELCOMES PROVINCIAL EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN ACCOUNTABILITY, RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN IRAQ

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LUXOR, EGYPT, 04 December 2006 (Department for International Development (UK))
Provinces in southern Iraq have revealed that they have received national Iraqi funding for the first time, allowing them to spend around $US400 million (600 billion Iraqi Dinars (ID)) on reconstruction and development work during 2006. They anticipate these national funds will double in 2007.

Discussing development progress at a summit with senior advisers from the international donor community, 40 representatives of the Provincial Governments of Basra, Muthanna and Dhi Qar have outlined ambitious plans to build on donor efforts already underway in the provinces.

The summit is one of a series of events coordinated by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the UK-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) based in Basra. Delegates met to confirm how they will advance stability and security through the strengthening of good governance, the building of best-practice provincial institutions and by promoting conditions for economic development across southern Iraq.

In 2007, budgets in each province have been guided by a three-year Provincial Development Strategy (PDS) that show how the provincial authorities are taking the leading role in providing services that are more responsive to local needs and problems.

The institutional reforms discussed and agreed at Luxor will include putting in place new measures to strengthen local accountability and transparency by establishing a single unified treasury unit to manage all funds coming to the province, and the adoption of a clear separation of powers between the Council, the Governor's Office and the Technical Directorates.

Barb Hendrie, Head of DFID Iraq said: “We are encouraged by the pace of this much needed governance reform and institutional capacity building by these provincial governments, who are now focussing on the core business of developing necessary services that will benefit the people they represent.

“Their efforts to promote transparent and accountable administration of the national Iraqi funds they have been given responsibility for, and to link their spending plans to clearly articulated strategies is also a welcome step forward, as it will allow the people to hold their provincial government accountable for how their money is spent.”

Speaking at the summit, Mr Gali Najam Muter, Chairman of the Basra Provincial Reconstruction and Development Committee (PRDC) said: “Economic development and accountability are essential for sustainable stability in southern Iraq. In 2007, Basra expects to invest nearly $US400m on reconstruction and development. This is double to what we have spent this year, with our key priorities continuing to be improving the water, power and sanitation sectors.
“We will work very closely with the new Provincial Treasury and Accounting Office to help progress these projects, and if these projects can be achieved on the ground, the people of Basra will be very happy and aware of the efforts we are making.”

~ENDS~

Notes to editors

1. Figures from the official 2006 Iraqi Budget Law show significant amounts for Iraqi national funds for reconstruction and development: Basra ($US172m/258b ID); Dhi Qar ($US118m/177b ID); Maysan ($US64m/96b ID); and Muthanna ($US43m/65b ID).

2. Each province is expecting Ministry of Finance to at least double their reconstruction and development budget for the 2007 financial year which begins on 1 January.

3. The Provincial Development Strategies to be implemented from 2007 are the first of their kind in Iraq. These have become models upon which other provinces across Iraq are basing their own development strategies.

4. This week’s summit follows previous meetings aimed at helping the southern provinces plan to access Iraqi national funds for reconstruction and development work from the pool if Iraqi annual funds which is estimated to be as high as US$30 billion.

5. In 2006, Basra Provincial Council issued contracts for over 250 projects. This will see improvements in all sectors, including essential transport, education and electricity projects. Up to $US25m (37b ID) will have been spent on projects in districts and towns outside Basra city.

6. A list of key projects undertaken in Basra in 2006 is available in Arabic and English, along with copies of the 2007 – 2009 Provincial Development Strategy for each of the southern Iraqi provinces.

UK WELCOMES PROVINCIAL EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN ACCOUNTABILITY, RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN IRAQ

LUXOR, EGYPT, 04 December 2006 (Department for International Development (UK))

Provinces in southern Iraq have revealed that they have received national Iraqi funding for the first time, allowing them to spend around $US400 million (600 billion Iraqi Dinars (ID)) on reconstruction and development work during 2006. They anticipate these national funds will double in 2007.

Discussing development progress at a summit with senior advisers from the international donor community, 40 representatives of the Provincial Governments of Basra, Muthanna and Dhi Qar have outlined ambitious plans to build on donor efforts already underway in the provinces.

The summit is one of a series of events coordinated by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the UK-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) based in Basra. Delegates met to confirm how they will advance stability and security through the strengthening of good governance, the building of best-practice provincial institutions and by promoting conditions for economic development across southern Iraq.

In 2007, budgets in each province have been guided by a three-year Provincial Development Strategy (PDS) that show how the provincial authorities are taking the leading role in providing services that are more responsive to local needs and problems.

The institutional reforms discussed and agreed at Luxor will include putting in place new measures to strengthen local accountability and transparency by establishing a single unified treasury unit to manage all funds coming to the province, and the adoption of a clear separation of powers between the Council, the Governor's Office and the Technical Directorates.

Barb Hendrie, Head of DFID Iraq said: “We are encouraged by the pace of this much needed governance reform and institutional capacity building by these provincial governments, who are now focussing on the core business of developing necessary services that will benefit the people they represent.

“Their efforts to promote transparent and accountable administration of the national Iraqi funds they have been given responsibility for, and to link their spending plans to clearly articulated strategies is also a welcome step forward, as it will allow the people to hold their provincial government accountable for how their money is spent.”

Speaking at the summit, Mr Gali Najam Muter, Chairman of the Basra Provincial Reconstruction and Development Committee (PRDC) said: “Economic development and accountability are essential for sustainable stability in southern Iraq. In 2007, Basra expects to invest nearly $US400m on reconstruction and development. This is double to what we have spent this year, with our key priorities continuing to be improving the water, power and sanitation sectors.

“We will work very closely with the new Provincial Treasury and Accounting Office to help progress these projects, and if these projects can be achieved on the ground, the people of Basra will be very happy and aware of the efforts we are making.”

~ENDS~

Notes to editors

1. Figures from the official 2006 Iraqi Budget Law show significant amounts for Iraqi national funds for reconstruction and development: Basra ($US172m/258b ID); Dhi Qar ($US118m/177b ID); Maysan ($US64m/96b ID); and Muthanna ($US43m/65b ID).

2. Each province is expecting Ministry of Finance to at least double their reconstruction and development budget for the 2007 financial year which begins on 1 January.

3. The Provincial Development Strategies to be implemented from 2007 are the first of their kind in Iraq. These have become models upon which other provinces across Iraq are basing their own development strategies.

4. This week’s summit follows previous meetings aimed at helping the southern provinces plan to access Iraqi national funds for reconstruction and development work from the pool if Iraqi annual funds which is estimated to be as high as US$30 billion.

5. In 2006, Basra Provincial Council issued contracts for over 250 projects. This will see improvements in all sectors, including essential transport, education and electricity projects. Up to $US25m (37b ID) will have been spent on projects in districts and towns outside Basra city.

6. A list of key projects undertaken in Basra in 2006 is available in Arabic and English, along with copies of the 2007 – 2009 Provincial Development Strategy for each of the southern Iraqi provinces.

UK WELCOMES PROVINCIAL EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN ACCOUNTABILITY, RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN IRAQ | Iraq Updates


More and more we read that the money starts to flow. Large amount for provinces, doubling for project etc. etc.

We must see a nice RV anytime now!

Like Adster said, they have to pay for their own reconstruction and it's not possible at the current rate.

We are sitting on gold!

Double post, Sorry!

WASHINGTON -- The White House is preparing for an important week: President Bush plans to meet Monday with Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the Shiite leader of the largest bloc in Iraq's parliament, and the recommendations from the bipartisan commission are to be released Wednesday.
Bush's national security adviser said Sunday the president's war policy has not failed. Stephen Hadley also said that while Bush recognizes that something different needs to be done, he won't use the recommendations due this week from the Iraq Study Group as political cover for bringing troops home.

"We have not failed in Iraq," Hadley said as he made the talk show rounds. "We will fail in Iraq if we pull out our troops before we're in a position to help the Iraqis succeed."

He added: "The president understands that we need to have a way forward in Iraq that is more successful."

But, with the leak of another insider's secret memo, the second in a week, the administration found itself on the defensive.

The latest, first reported in Sunday's New York Times, showed that Donald H. Rumsfeld called for a "major adjustment" in U.S. tactics on Nov. 6 _ the day before an election that cost Republicans the Congress and Rumsfeld his job as defense secretary.

Hadley played down the memo as a laundry list of ideas rather than a call for a new course of action.

He said that Bush _ just before a pivotal election _ was not portraying a different sense of the war to the public than his own defense secretary was giving him in private.

The president "has said publicly what Rumsfeld said, that things are not proceeding well enough or fast enough in Iraq," Hadley said.

Democrats did not buy that.

"The Rumsfeld memo makes it quite clear that one of the greatest concerns is the political fallout from changing course here in the United States," said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The bottom line is there is no one, including the former secretary, who thought the policy the president continues to pursue makes any sense."

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said the Rumsfeld memo was an example of how the administration has been "mischaracterizing and misstating this war." He said the Iraq conflict had devolved into a civil war. "There's two factions fighting for supremacy inside Iraq and our troops are caught in between," Murtha said on NBC's "Today" show. As incoming chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, Murtha said he would put pressure on the administration to redeploy U.S. troops there.

Bush has nominated Robert Gates to replace Rumsfeld. His confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee is on Tuesday.

As pressure builds for a new strategy, the report from the Iraq Study Group increasingly is viewed as perhaps clearing the way for a U.S. exit strategy in Iraq. Hadley, though, said the review will be just one factor the White House considers.

After a meeting last week in Jordan, Bush expressed confidence that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his government can lead the country toward peace with support from the United States.

Yet Hadley found himself defending his own memo that called that very point into question.

Written on Nov. 8 but disclosed just before Bush's meeting with the Iraqi leader, the memo described al-Maliki as "either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action."

Hadley said Sunday about the memo: "I made an assessment, raised a number of questions, hard questions that should have been raised. But if you look at that memo and if you look at what the president said in the press conference after the meeting with Prime Minister Maliki, it is clear that this government shares our objective for Iraq and has the will and desire to take responsibility."

Hadley appeared Sunday on ABC's "This Week," NBC's "Meet the Press," and `Face the Nation" on CBS. Biden was on "Fox News Sunday.

Originally Posted by michael16

It seems to me we are going to see the dinar reval similar to a company that has a great product with a low stock price. It will rise in value then sell off some then rise again until it reaches its true value. Is this the case or will it get to a value and or predicted quantity in circulation and then the central bank will increase the value to lets say a dollar. Any opinions on these two ways of a dinar revalue.

As evidenced by an earlier post regarding the "street market", I don't believe the CBI has total control over where this one is going. As Mr. Knowles pointed out, market forces have kicked in and are driving this baby home to momma!

Originally Posted by michael16

...the memo described al-Maliki as "either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action."

I say amen to that...

[/QUOTE] does the CBI have the US dollars to cover the exchange of possibly a TRILLION US DOLLARS from existing holdings.[/QUOTE]

The CBI doesn't need to be able to cover TRILLIONS ......... this has been discussed a gajillion times in a gajillion forums. I am sure if you do a search you will learn a lot about this. If I could explain it in a few sentences I would.

Long story short as I understand it is that most of the DINAR exchanged here in the US and other countries outside of IRAQ will never make it back to the CBI. Banks will hold them and others will invest for a future gain in profit. Trust me there are many opinions and theories on this. Just read, read, read. Best of luck!

Originally Posted by kiko

The decline in the demand for dollar
Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)

Decreased demand for the dollar purchase auction in the Central Bank of Iraq today, Monday, recording six million and $ 500 thousand versus seven million yesterday, Sunday,.

The bulletin issued by the Central Bank of Iraq today that the amounts sold by the bank were fully in the form of remittances were covered by the full exchange rate reached 1430 dinars, down three points on the exchange rate yesterday.

Conversely made seven banks to participate in the auction, bids for the sale of one million and 930 thousand dollars, the bank bought a full exchange rate amounted to 1428 dinars to the dollar.

He said Mr. Ali Yasiri, a dealer with the Central Bank said in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent today that the exchange rate is equal to the sale price of the dollar in the local market. It is 1430 dollars, That price is the sale price amounts to a few, The large amounts, the rate of exchange which could be less, about 1420 dinars.

He said that in any case, this convergence of the exchange rate if it settled on the No. soon it will encourage the purchase of return close to the previous rates.

ÏæáÇÑ-(ÅÞÊÕÇÏ) :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq


I like the statement "return close to the previous rates"!!

If the Dinar Re-val at above $3.22 or near the $3.00 rate than Banks in the USA will have to merg in order to compete with banks in GCC & Iraq who the CBI have said, "Must have reserve capital above $50m(D)." With OIL money(3m barrels a day x $60.00(usd)= $180m (usd) daily) as a base, that is 65Billion(usd) a year(2007) is the projected income of Iraq.

It is very possible to see bothChase & Bank of America looking for Mergers in the banking world!!! As each will need larger reserves of 50Billion- 1Trillion to compete in future OIL banking world.
Just my brain- thinking again

H-Sillverlinning

Originally Posted by Hslvrl9g

If the Dinar Re-val at above $3.22 or near the $3.00 rate than Banks in the USA will have to merg in order to compete with banks in GCC & Iraq who the CBI have said, "Must have reserve capital above $50m(D)." With OIL money(3m barrels a day x $60.00(usd)+ $180m (usd) daily) as a base, 65Billion a year(2007) is the projected income of Iraq.

It is very possible to see bothChase & Bank of America looking for Mergers in the banking world!!! As each will need larger reserves of 50Billion- 1Trillion to compete in future OIL banking world.
Just my brain- thinking again

H-Sillverlinning

If it revalues at $3.22 I will run naked around the village we live in with a wad of 5k notes in my hands.

If it revalues at $3.22 I will run naked around the village we live in with a wad of 5k notes in my hands

Shoot if it should R/V that high I will too. But it would have to be a short run in this 4 degree weather though.

Originally Posted by Adster

If it revalues at $3.22 I will run naked around the village we live in with a wad of 5k notes in my hands.

Ad - If you are planning on running around naked this winter on news of a reval, then make sure you make a loincloth out of those 5K notes so that your personal "dinar gang" stays warm!