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

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

auction posted anywhere between 10:30am and 11:30pm baghdad time. (it has been that early and that late but the most common time is about 11:50am baghdad.)

Thanks Susie,I appreciate you getting back to me
sarah

Originally Posted by AlwaysDreaming

This morning I was surprised to see the posting earlier than usual. It usually updates at 3:00am mountain time, but this morning it was around 2:30 ( but then disappeared quite quickly after that)

A big thanks to you too AD,Guess i will be staying up late tonight!WOOOOOOOTT!
GO DINAR GO!!!!!
Sarah

HEY CHECK THIS OUT!


The Central Bank expecting budget deficit in 2007

LawkSalih.Com - The Central Bank expecting budget deficit in 2007


"The dinar continued to rise against the dollar during the auction of the "Central", at a sale price of 1352 dinar last Sunday, compared to 1360 dinar last Thursday. The expert at the "Central", Majid Assuri, expected a remarkable improvement in the rate of the dinar, due to the low dollar exchange rate, over the next couple of months. The last rise in the rate of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar exchange rate was in 1995, but then the exchange rate stabilized between 1400 and 1700 dinar to the dollar.

The "Central" attributed the high rate of the dinar against the dollar, to the stability in the sale of the dollar below its real exchange rate. Assuri explained that the inflation suffered by the economy now is a price inflation, and not a monetary inflation, pointing out that the aim of the "Central" is to limit the effects of the monetary inflation. As for the price inflation, it is due to the lower commodity presentations, and to the greedy who exploit the circumstances through which Iraq is going. He expected a significant improvement in the rate of the dinar, and the drop in prices according to this improvement. "

Oil is the only future bet to raise the standard of living for people

LawkSalih.Com - Oil is the only future bet to raise the standard of living for people


"The Inspector General in the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, Ali Mohsin Al-Allaq, confirmed that recent statistics showed that the average annual income of the Iraqi individual reached 41 dollars, and that 54% of Iraqis spend less than a dollar a day, so oil is the only future bet to raise the quality of life, services and living in this country.
Al-Allaq added in a statement that "Iraq ranks second in the world in oil reserves; it produces about two million barrels per day and exports less, in spite that Iraq needs to increase its revenue to meet the requirements of building, construction and raising the standard of living of citizens and this requires taking a host of measures to boost production and export of crude oil and natural gas. "

Originally Posted by Offshore-Wealth.com

Interesting,

For what it is worth, just heard from my Kurds and no 10K for the end of this holiday either, so perhaps they are holding silent for a reason yet to be released to the world. Sure makes more sense every day.

Good luck to all, Mike

You and me both know it Mike!! After hearing it mentioned in numerous articles and nothing to come about the only thing that makes sense is a holdout until Iraq shocks the world this month....oops did I just say that . Doesn't take a genius to figure out that they are just buying time. The Iraqis will get what they were promised just not in terms of the current rate. It's just an incentive from the Gov to get the ball rolling.

The execution of Saddam raises the price of the Iraqi dinar in Jordan

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08 January 2007 (Iraq Directory)
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Jordanian money changers said that the Iraqi dinar from the old edition (Swiss) rose by about 18% in the local market following the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein last Saturday in the first day of Eid Al-Adha.

They emphasized that the increased demand for the Iraqi currency shattered the recession that hit the currency since the American occupation of Iraq in April 2003.

Head of the Exchange Association in Jordan, Alaa Diraneh, said that the increase in the demand for the Iraqi currency in its two types, the (Swiss) and (Bremer), was due to the desire of some to keep currency in memory of the late president, who appears in the various categories of the Iraqi currency, while some of the Gulf people purchased it in hope that the economy of the country would be improved in the new year, and may be reflected on the exchange rate.
After the Eid holiday, one million Iraqi dinars (Swiss) worth JD 8200, after it was exchanged for seven thousand Jordanian dinars before the holidays, as for the dinar of (Bremer), who is a civil administrator in Iraq following the American occupation of the country, has risen to 545 million from JD 530 dinars, at an increase of 3%.

In October 2003, the Iraqi Central Bank issued a new currency named publicly by 'Bremer', and the Iraqis has been given a period of three months to replace the old currency, which bears images of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, with the new currency which were printed in Britain and carrying pictures of landmarks and historic figures including Hammurabi, the King of Babylon.

The execution of Saddam raises the price of the Iraqi dinar in Jordan | Iraq Updates

Plans to 'invest in execution' for support to reconciliation





Monday, Jan 08, 2007

Baghdad: The Iraqi security and political scene is preparing for a new phase after Saddam Hussain's execution while awaiting US President George W. Bush's new Iraq strategy and Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's new Baghdad security plan and further steps for national reconciliation.

Bush and Al Maliki are expected to announce plans in the next two days.

Mariam Al Rayes, the Iraqi Prime Minister advisor, told Gulf News: "Al Maliki wants to invest [in] Saddam Hussain's execution to support reconciliation process with the Sunni clans and some Baathists."

Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Deputy, Nasser Al Abadi, said to Gulf News: "The future American strategy's main factor is to deliver 70 per cent of the military combat and ... missions to the Iraqi forces, this development would make the new Baghdad security plan, starting next Friday, more effective.

"The role of the American forces would be limited to support the Iraqi forces combat operations, this new American strategy would speed up arming Iraqi troops as well."

He added: "Al Maliki wants ... other solutions [too] especially promoting national reconciliation."

According to the new strategy, it is likely that President Bush would decide to send more American forces to Iraq. Najeeb Al Salihi, the free officers movement leader, told Gulf News: "[Increasing] the American troop levels means two things. The Americans think that Iraqi security condition is very critical, beside this increasingly is closely related to the American-Iranian confrontation in the region."

Adnan Al Dulaimi, Sunni Accordance Front leader, told Gulf News: "According to the obligations made by President Bush, this strategy aims to achieve sectarian balance within Iraqi state institutions."

The Sunnis reportedly want to direct significant strikes to Shiite militias through Bush's strategy while the Shiite coalition led by Abdul Aziz Al Hakim wants to hit out against the Sunni gunmen.

Osama Al Najafi, a figure close to former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi, doubts the usefulness of the new US strategy as the situation in Iraq has reached a "perilous, slippery slope".

The Iraqi Prime Minister advisor said: "Reconciliation is heading to achieve better results because there is a general belief ... that a new page in Iraqi history has [been turned] after [the] execution."


© Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.

New US strategy to call for benchmarks for Iraqis: report





WASHINGTON, Jan 7, 2007 (AFP) - US President George W. Bushs new Iraq policy will establish a series of goals that the Iraqi government will be expected to meet to try to stabilize the country politically and economically, The New York Times reported on its website Sunday.

Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said these "benchmarks" will call for drawing more Sunnis into the political process, finalizing a long-delayed measure on the distribution of oil revenue and easing the governments policy toward former Baath Party members.

Without saying what the specific penalties for failing to achieve the goals would be, US officials insisted that they intended to hold the Iraqis to a realistic timetable for action, the report said.

The Americans and Iraqis have agreed on many of the objectives before, only to fall far short, The New York Times pointed out.

Bush is expected to refer to the benchmarks in a much-anticipated speech this week outlining his new Iraq strategy, including plans to send as many as 20,000 additional troops, according to the report.

Administration officials plan to make the benchmarks public sometime after the address, the paper said.

"This is not an open-ended commitment," the newspaper quoted a senior administration official as saying. "We are putting real specific requirements and expectations on the Iraqi government."

Some of the goals that are to be incorporated on the list of benchmarks have been carried over from an earlier list that was hammered out with the Iraqis, made public in October, but never met, the report said.

They include, for example, a previously stated promise to set a date for provincial elections or adopt a national oil law that would give the central government the power to distribute current and future oil revenues to the provinces or regions, The New York Times said.

The benchmarks will also deal with settling a new policy on de-Baathification, according to the report.

mk/vs

US-Iraq-Bush-politics

US twists civilian arms to fill its Fortress Baghdad Diplomats fear Washington's huge new embassy in the Green Zone will become a focus for local anger. Guy Dinmore reports





Monday, Jan 08, 2007

At the heart of George W. Bush's "new way forward" - which the president is expected to announce on Wednesday and involve substantial troop reinforcements - is the plan already under way to expand the US civilian presence across Iraq and complete the world's largest embassy in Baghdad.

Construction of what critics call "Fortress Baghdad" has led to arguments inside the State Department amid fears that the overwhelming diplomatic presence will perpetuate a sense of US occupation and become a focus of local anger.

US diplomats say that just as the armed forces are being stretched to breaking point, the US foreign service is suffering from low morale and operations in the rest of the world are being damaged by the diversion of resources to Iraq.

Officials are also questioning why the Bush administration is sending more civilians into a deteriorating war zone, and the effectiveness of the work they can do.

The embassy compound being built inside Baghdad's Green Zone covers 104 acres, making it six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York. A city within a city for more than 1,000 people, it will have its own water, sewers and electricity, six apartment buildings, a Marine barracks, swimming pool, shops and some walls 15 feet thick.

The State Department has told the Financial Times that the US civilian presence in Iraq has "grown considerably beyond the numbers projected for the new embassy compound", which is scheduled for completion by September 1 at a cost of Dollars 592m (Euros 455m, Pounds 307m).

The department and other agencies, such as the Pentagon and Treasury which also supply staff, are working out how to accommodate the extra numbers that Mr Bush is expected to announce this week. Recruits are being attracted to one-year posts by a mix of cajoling and inducement - an almost doubling of their salary, four trips outside Iraq and guarantees of favourable postings afterwards.

Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, and other officials have repeatedly sent cables to personnel around the world saying diplomats have a patriotic duty to volunteer for Baghdad and the expanding "provincial reconstruction teams", where diplomats work out of military bases.

"Baghdad dwarfs everything else. It is becoming a monster that has to be fed every year with a new crop of volunteers," says one diplomat.

So far the State Department has not resorted to compulsory or "directed" assignments, a practice last used during the Vietnam war. But it has warned it would put assignments elsewhere on hold "if Iraq and Afghanistan and other priority posts are not staffed".

Among the many recommendations of the bipartisan Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq, issued in December, was that diplomats and other US personnel should be obliged to serve in Iraq if there were not enough volunteers.

Steve Kashkett, vice-president of the American Foreign Service Association, the professional body representing US foreign service officers, questions their logic.

"It makes no sense for the Iraq report authors simultaneously to propose scaling back the US military presence and beefing up the presence of unarmed US diplomats in a combat zone," he writes this month in the association's journal.

John Brown, who resigned as a US diplomat in protest against the 2003 invasion and now teaches public diplomacy, says the embassy "will be a symbol of the US occupation and the near-total separation of US embassy staff members from the society with which they are supposed to interact".

"Indeed, the planned embassy reminds me of the huge, cavernous buildings that housed Soviet missions in eastern Europe during the cold war. They were hated by the local population for all they stood for: secrecy, arrogance and domination."

Of the 1,000 or so US civilians staffing Baghdad at present - not including large numbers of private-sector bodyguards - there are about 200 career diplomats, plus some 70 in the provincial reconstruction teams that are set to expand.

Many other staffers are so-called "3161s" - recruited ad hoc and, according to the State Department, "fully qualified for their highly technical jobs". Diplomats question this, saying many are incompetent and have been hired for their loyalty to the Republican effort.

Asked why the US was sending more diplomats into a war zone when such conditions elsewhere in the world would lead to closure or drawdown of embassies, the State Department said such comparisons were "inappropriate", noting the embassy had suffered "minimal casualties".

By GUY DINMORE


© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2007. Privacy policy.

Iraqi government to announce federal oil council soon


BAGHDAD, Jan 7 (KUNA) -- As part of a fresh economic opening-up policy, the Iraqi government is determined to make public the establishment of a federal oil and gas council soon, an Iraqi spokesman said here Sunday.

"The council will oversee oil resources nationwide," Spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil Asem Jihad told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The spokesman quoted Iraqi Minister of Oil Hussein Al-Shahrstani as saying "The council's task is to develop oilfields, and supervise and approve oil projects and deals to be hammered out with foreign companies."

"The council is to be the top oil watchdog in Iraq as it will work out and run the country's oil policy," he added.

Failing to reveal whether the council's chairman was named, he said the council could be chaired by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki or his deputy for economic affairs Borham Saleh.

The council will include representatives from the ministries of oil, finance and planning, the Central Bank of Iraq and regional governments, the Iraqi oil spokesman added.

An Iraqi oil committee has almost worked out a draft oil and gas law to be presented to the Cabinet ahead of referring it to the parliament for approval, he said, noting that the draft law would regulate investment in the oil and gas sector as well as the role between the central government and regional governments in the oil sector.