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

Topic: Iraq Economy
Life Goes On
Iraqi Market Basket Report
Costs: Sugar, Flour, Rice, Eggs, Noodles, Chicken, Tomatoes
By ZEYAD Posted 11 hr. 16 min. ago
(1 USD = 1,336 ID)
Sugar, 50-Kilo Bag: 50,000 ID ($37.42)

Iraqi Flour, 50-Kilo Bag: 17,000 ID ($12.72)

Imported Flour, 50-Kilo Bag: 30,000 ID ($22.46) to 50,000 ID ($37.42), depends on brand and import location

American Rice, 50-Kilo Bag: 20,000 ID ($14.97)

Vietnamese Rice, 50-Kilo Bag: 10,000 ID ($7.49)

Iraqi Anbar Rice, 50-Kilo Bag: 50,000 ID ($37.42)

Tomato Paste, 850 Gram Can: 10,000 ID ($7.49)

Tea, 1KG: 600 ($.52) to 800 ID ($.60), depends on brand import location.

Iraqi Noodles, 1KG: 800 ($.60) to 1000 ($.75) ID

Iraqi Chicken, 1KG: 2,500 ID ($1.81)

Iraqi Eggs Platter, 30 eggs: 5,000 ($3.72) to 5,500 ID ($4.06), depends on source.

Topic: Iraqi Government
Iraq Dominates U.S. Broadcast Newscasts
Nearly Triple the Coverage of Any Other Story in 2006
Posted 0 hr. 49 min. ago
Iraq was the most-reported story on the half-hour evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC in 2006, according to a report by the Tyndall Report newsletter quoted on the TVNewser Web site.
The three evening newscasts combined dedicated 1,488 minutes to Iraq in 2006 -- nearly triple the coverage provided of the next most-reported story, the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict (578 minutes).

CBS provided the most Iraq coverage -- 398 minutes, with NBC at 389 minutes, and ABC at 343 minutes.

The top 10 stories on the evening broadcasts newscasts:
1. Iraq 1,488
2. Israel-Hezbollah 578
3. Katrina aftermath 369
4. 9/11 aftermath 221
5. Oil/gas prices 207
6. Illegal Immigration 202
7. Campaign 2006/Dems win 165
8. North Korea nukes 162
9. Al Qaeda manhunts 144
10. W. Virginia coal mine blast 132

Bush mulls Iraq surge, address likely next week
POSTED: 7:18 p.m. EST, January 3, 2007
Story Highlights• NEW: Sources: Officials: Bush mulls Iraq surge, address likely next week
POSTED: 7:18 p.m. EST, January 3, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush is likely to send anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 additional troops to Iraq as part of his yet-to-be-announced new Iraq strategy, sources with knowledge of his deliberations told CNN Wednesday.

Bush is expected to address the nation on the new strategy early next week, sources have said.

The president has not yet signed off on any changes, including a possible increase of U.S. troops, according to the sources.

But he is "driving toward a conclusion" and a plan is "taking shape" and "getting more detailed" as the president puts "on the finer points," they said.

More Info Here:Officials: Bush mulls Iraq surge, address likely next week - CNN.com

Bush seeks backing for agenda on budget, Iraq By Steve Holland
Wed Jan 3, 5:48 PM ET



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Democrats poised to take over Congress, President George W. Bush on Wednesday used a Rose Garden ceremony and a newspaper opinion piece to push for spending cuts and rally support for an Iraq policy he has yet to announce.

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Speaking at a ceremony after a Cabinet meeting, Bush used the White House stage to announce a proposal to balance the U.S. budget by 2012. He also wrote a rare opinion article in The Wall Street Journal promoting his new strategy for Iraq to be announced in coming days.

Bush called upon Democrats to set aside politics, but Democrats, who are preparing to flex their muscle with a legislative push when they take command of Congress on Thursday, responded cautiously.

"We hope that when the president says compromise, it means more than 'do it my way,' which is what he's meant in the past," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record).

"I'm encouraged that President Bush said today that he wants to work in bipartisanship, and I hope he means it," said incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

In his White House comments, Bush said he would present a five-year plan to Congress next month that would balance the budget by 2012 -- three years after his presidency ends -- and make lower tax rates permanent.

Bush called on Congress to reform the process in which billions of dollars in individual spending items, known as "earmarks," for specific congressional districts are able to get approved without a vote.

Balancing the budget in that time frame would require substantial spending discipline, given that recent projections by the White House showed it expected a budget gap of $127 billion by 2011.

In early February, Congress expects Bush to request about $100 billion in additional "emergency" funds to pay for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The wars currently are being funded with $70 billion put into the pipeline a few months ago.

"We welcome the president's newfound commitment to a balanced budget, but his comments make us wary," said incoming House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt of South Carolina. "They suggest that his budget will still embody the policies that led to the largest deficits in history."

Bush also wrote in a rare opinion article in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that his new strategy for Iraq would help the "people gain control of the security situation and hasten the day when the Iraqi government gains full control over its affairs."

"We now have the opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus to fight and win the war," he wrote.

NEW IRAQ STRATEGY

Bush is to announce a new strategy for Iraq as early as Tuesday and he is considering a short-term increase of thousands of U.S. troops to try to bring stability to Baghdad.

The White House described him as "narrowing the choices" and said he was focusing on a package of options that included "the military front, the economic front and the political front" to announce as a whole.

Bush has two years left in office and believes he can accomplish some of his legislative agenda, even though his Republican Party has lost control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and Americans are increasingly turning their attention to the 2008 race to succeed him.

(Additional reporting by Glenn Somerville, Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro

Kurdish struggle for Iraq's oil

by Yo Takatsuki
Business reporter, BBC World Service, Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan


One of the most common sights in Irbil is that of a mountain of jerry-cans stacked by a busy roadside.


Drivers get petrol for their cars from informal roadside stalls in Irbil

As a car draws up, a young man will rush over to the window and be handed a bundle of Iraqi dinars by the driver. In return, a cherry-coloured liquid will be poured in to the car's petrol tank.

Welcome to a petrol station in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Despite sitting on huge reserves of oil, it is still difficult for people of this region to get access to petrol through formal means.

Instead, cars and trucks fill up at these illegal roadside operations.

19-year-old Mustafa, who works at one, says he has to smuggle fuel from Iran because the petrol from domestic refineries is too low grade.

"We buy the Iranian one, which has this red colour," he says.

"It's not legal, of course, and it's expensive. We don't make much profit. We wouldn't be doing this if the government distributed good petrol."

Slow progress

Iraqi Kurdistan suffered decades of repression by Saddam Hussein's regime during which more than 100,000 Kurds are believed to have perished.

After the 1991 Gulf War, it had autonomy but remained isolated. Now, though, it is finally beginning to prosper.

Since the fall of Saddam in 2003, investment has started to flow and the region has had greater access to central government revenue from Baghdad.

And while much of the country is engulfed in violence, life in the Kurdish-administered regions of northern Iraq goes on in relative peace.


In a country that has vast amounts of reserves proven but none producing, the single highest line-item burden on the government is the importing of fuels

Jerry Kiser, oil scout

However, the Kurds are yet to benefit from the oil reserves beneath their territory - an issue high on the agenda for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

The KRG has tasked foreign experts such as Jerry Kiser, from Kansas in the US, with getting the oil out.

"We've identified lots of opportunities but there's no pipelines or access to market," he says.

"In a country that has vast amounts of reserves proven but none producing, the single highest line-item burden on the government is the importing of fuels.

Mr Kiser argues that progress has been slow because international oil companies are still reluctant to come and work in northern Iraq.

"Lots of people come to meet the minister but nobody is really doing anything," Mr Kiser says.

Currently, only two small foreign operators are working in Kurdistan.

Kirkuk question

Only an hour away from Irbil is the city of Kirkuk, a major oil centre with a majority Kurdish population which is nonetheless outside Iraqi Kurdistan and is therefore under the control of the central government in Baghdad.


Map: The three regions in Northern Iraq represents Kurdistan

Kirkuk's citizens are expected to hold a referendum in 2007 to decide whether to stay with Baghdad or to join the Kurdish-controlled areas.

Should the referendum be in favour of the KRG, then the Kurds should have direct access to one of the biggest oil fields in the country.

The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, says that the Kirkuk issue is not just about securing more oil.

"Kirkuk is Kurdish," he says. "No-one can dispute that, but we understand that oil does not belong to just the Kurds. It belongs to everybody in Iraq."

Under Saddam Hussein's regime, he argues, the proceeds of Kurdish oil bought weapons which were used against Kurds.

"For the first time in history the people of Kurdistan, they feel they are part of Iraq. If we are part of Iraq, then they have to give us a fair share of Iraq's oil," Mr Barzani says.

In fact, though, Kirkuk's position could be more difficult to settle.

The city has a large mix of ethnicities, including Arabs, Turkomen, and Assyrians living alongside the Kurds.

It is also extremely violent, with US forces engaged in daily gunfights with local militias.


Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani wants a bigger Iraqi Kurdistan

Its oil installations are attacked regularly and it is costing millions of dollars to repair an oil pipeline that has been blown up.

But Mr Barzani is confident that if it came under Kurdish control, Kirkuk could be secured in a matter of months.

"After the referendum the situation will be totally different. We need some time, maybe one year. We are sure about that, we can bring back security to the area."

Great Game

The Kurds may have their eyes firmly on the oil in neighbouring regions, but there is also an increasing foreign interest in the future of Kurdistan's oil.

Almost every night, a fresh foreign trade mission can be found entertaining local officials in the bar of the city's top hotel.

As well as Americans, there are groups from Europe and the Far East.

But it is Iran and Turkey that seem keenest to gain a foothold.

For Jerry Kiser, it is Iran in particular which has increased its influence in the region in recent months.

The Iranians, he says, are already benefiting from 300,000 barrels a day flowing across the border from southern Iraq thanks to smuggling systems set up by Saddam and still operating.

But on a more long-term basis, he says the country is actively looking for projects and companies to recruit and fund.

"They advise me that they have $1bn to invest in the Iraqi oil sector," he says.

"They have their eyes on lots of cross-border fields. It's a reality that's hard for Americans to swallow. Americans may have been playing chequers, but Iranians are playing chess

Media can’t capture full picture in Iraq, Snow says

By Rick Maze
Staff writer


Senior White House spokesman Tony Snow said Wednesday that media accounts of the situation in Iraq don’t give the full picture, but added he does not blame the media itself.

“It is absolutely impossible for any reporting to capture full the complexity of a situation like that,” Snow said. “It is humanly impossible.”


Snow’s comment came as reporters tried, without success, to get him to provide clues about what President Bush will announce as the new U.S. strategy in Iraq next week. Bush is widely expected to announce a temporary increase in U.S. troop levels in Iraq in what is being called a “surge and accelerate” plan to improve security to the point that Iraqi forces can take on more of the mission.

Snow said journalists are limited in what they can include in a print or broadcast news article. “The president has more time and gets far more information than one is going to be able to shove into even the best and most thoughtfully produced news story or television report,” Snow said.

“I think what happens is we may be out of touch with reality because we sit around and we look at fractional pictures on the screen,” Snow said. “This is a president who gets exhaustive briefings on a daily basis about the situation. He knows more than anybody in this room about what's going on” in Iraq

He explained that the Iraqi Central Bank "started raising interest rates from 12 to 16% now", pointing out that there are no immediate plans to continue



How does 41 billion convert using the current exchange rate. I am sure this has already been discussed......what was then outcome??

He explained that the Iraqi Central Bank "started raising interest rates from 12 to 16% now", pointing out that there are no immediate plans to continue



How does 41 billion convert using the current exchange rate. I am sure this has already been discussed......what was the outcome??

The Secretary of Baghdad, Dr. Sabir Al-Issawi, said that the Secretariat of Baghdad had signed contracts during the current year, valued at more than one thousand (1000) billion Iraqi dinar.

He pointed out that the Secretariat has obtained approval from the Cabinet and the Economic Committee to raise the operational budget from (150) billion to (400) billion Iraqi dinar, which makes it an explosive budget in all measures.


That's a lot of DINAR......unless it is revalued sometime soon.

Sorry I failedto paste the links until after I had deleted them.....my apoligies people. I can probably dig them up if I had the energy.

Originally Posted by Lakeway

He explained that the Iraqi Central Bank "started raising interest rates from 12 to 16% now", pointing out that there are no immediate plans to continue



How does 41 billion convert using the current exchange rate. I am sure this has already been discussed......what was then outcome??

$54,325,000,000,000 (54 trillion Iraqi Dinar) There is no way they can really support this. So while the naysayers state Iraq could not support a reval of higher proportions it seems that the CBI actually think otherwise because that is what they are going to have to do to support these figures....