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

Iraqi News
Sunday, January 07, 2007 MTC Atheer subscribers surpass 3 million in 2006 - Iraq
(MENAFN) The director of Iraqi MTC Atheer, a member of MTC group, announced that the company's subscribers soared to over three million in 2006, compared to 1.5 million a year before, Iraq Directory reported. He added that the company took only three years to possess the telecommunications market in Iraq, serving the largest number of subscribers among other companies. He pointed out that the company invested $430 million in the past three years to expand the coverage of its network in order to attract more subscribers. He added that 40% of the company's spending was to develop and modernize its network, and that the company is planning to put more investments into expanding its network in northern Iraq. The prevalence rate of mobile phones in Iraq is currently 26%. It is expected to exeed 50% within five years.
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Disclaimer: Trade Bank of Iraq and MENAFN are not responsible or liable for the accuracy of all information including but not limited to financial market data, news, stock quotes, energy rates, currency rates obtained from MENAFN modules and shall not be responsible for trading and investment decisions made based on such information. Therefore the accuracy of this information and its applicability to your needs are not guaranteed

Originally Posted by wciappetta

Yes you are right in your conclusion but the Iraqis are not looking at this from that side of the equation they are viewing this from the dinar side and whatever it translates into in decimal format so be it.

They will lift zeros and are not looking at this from the dollar side or should I say the western side. JUst my opinion of course but this is how it appears.

I agree, maybe it can't, they determine the rate they want and can seek a solution for that.

It will happen!

Iraqi News
Sunday, January 07, 2007 Iraqi dates exports in danger
(MENAFN) Due to continuous delays in the issuance of export licenses by the Iraqi ministry of commerce, dates exporters said that the export of Iraqi dates is in danger of losing competitiveness to other dates exporting countries, Iraq Directory reported. A dates merchant, said that he suffered serious losses after the ministry delayed the issuance of export licenses from October to December. This delay forced importers to turn away from Iraqi dates. Another merchant referred the current crisis in dates export to the unstable security situation and the government routine. He added that Iraqi traders have to export their dates via Dubai and this adds extra expenses for them to pay. He also said that Iraq has lost very important customers with large markets like Pakistan, India and European markets. He pointed out that the Iraqi market witnessed a sharp decline in the quantities of domestically produced dates, because of agricultural pest, and the difficulty of providing means to control them permanently. A researcher said that Iraqi wealth of palm trees has dropped from 30 million trees in 1980 to only 2.7 million currently. He added that Iraq used to export 500 tons of dates annually including 624 types of fine dates.
Copyright ©2000 MENAFN All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer: Trade Bank of Iraq and MENAFN are not responsible or liable for the accuracy of all information including but not limited to financial market data, news, stock quotes, energy rates, currency rates obtained from MENAFN modules and shall not be responsible for trading and investment decisions made based on such information. Therefore the accuracy of this information and its applicability to your needs are not guaranteed

GOOD RESEARCH LINK FOR UN ORG'S:

Welcome to the Official Web Site Locator for the UN System of Organizations

Some have fear, but conclusion is that the big boys are already in Iraq to train etc.

First the small ones and china, japan will start, they don't fear anything after that big boys will come, because they don't want to miss a big piece of that big pie of oil!


Where Majors Fear To Tread Iraq has the world's second largest oil reserves but it is the minnows that are leading the way

Sunday Telegraph (UK)
Jan 8 2007

New Year's Day was like any ordinary day in Iraq: 15 bullet-riddled bodies were found behind a mosque in Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded in the capital and the toll of US soldiers killed passed 3,000.

In the flurry of headlines and stories detailing the carnage, another development went almost unnoticed. A small Norwegian company announced that an exploration well in northern Iraq had produced several thousand barrels of oil. The company, DNO, is the first Western group drilling for oil in post-war Iraq under a deal struck two years ago with the Kurdistan regional authorities.

DNO is among a handful of companies risking capital - both financial and, in some cases, human - to help rebuild and develop Iraq's oil industry.

The sector has been devastated by years of violence, a lack of investment and chronic corruption. Three years after the official end of hostilities, production - at around 2.2m barrels per day - is still below pre-war levels. Since 2003, there have been more than 380 attacks on Iraq's oil assets: pipelines blown up, terminals set on fire and key personnel killed.

While the world's oil majors have so far shied away from investing, minnows such as DNO and Petrel Resources, an Aim-listed Irish explorer, have taken the plunge. State-owned oil companies from resource-hungry countries such as China, India and even Russia have recently started dipping in their toes.

For these companies, the obvious risks are mitigated by the prospect of getting first dibs on a slice of Iraq's vast oil riches: not only is the country blessed with the world's second largest petroleum reserves after Saudi Arabia but much of it is "easy'' oil because it is simple to extract from the ground.

"It's about cost-benefit analysis - for a minnow, it all stacks up,'' says Martin Rudd, vice president of business development at the Olive Group, which provides security to some of the world's leading oil companies. "It can be easier for them to operate in a country like Iraq as the level of their investment is smaller and the reputational risk is less than that of the oil majors.''

Until now, disputes over how to carve up the reserves have helped fuel political tensions between the country's three main communities, the majority Shia and minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Iraq's oil is unevenly distributed, with the bulk of the reserves in the Kurdish-controlled north and Shia south. With oil making up nearly 70 per cent of Iraq's economy and more than 95 per cent of government revenues, virtually every problem facing the country has its wellspring in hydrocarbons.

It was a point not lost on the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan body led by James Baker, the former US Secretary of State. In its report last year, the group warned that "the politics of oil has the potential to further damage the country's already fragile efforts to create a unified central government''.

But there is growing speculation that the Iraqi parliament is about to pass crucial oil legislation that would regulate the industry and distribute its revenues more fairly. One of the key stumbling points has been who should sign oil contracts with international companies in the Kurdistan region.

And with President Bush preparing to announce the deployment of more troops this week as part of a new push to bring order to Iraq, a deal on a hydrocarbon law is likely to be seen by many as a sign that some kind of normality is returning to the region.

"It will impinge on the question of Iraq as a nation, as a federal system,'' predicts John Teeling, the chairman of Petrel Resources.

The company, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary in the country, is among the handful of independent oil and gas companies that decided early on that Iraq was simply too big an opportunity to miss. Historically, it has always been the independents that blazed a trail in difficult operating environments and were the first to sign deals with governments in those regions. Teeling argues that Iraq is no different.

Petrel, he explains, decided to go to Iraq because of the "scarcity of energy''. He argues that the demand for resources from developing countries such as China is such that supplies are at a premium.

"You go where the minerals are. The majors work differently. It's wild-catting, just more sophisticated,'' he says.

He cites three conditions which need to be met before going in. "The critical thing in all these countries is, can you get title? Number two is, are the rules of the game understandable and can you work within those rules? Thirdly, does it have the geology that can enable you to make a profit?''

John Dorrier, the chief executive at Gulfsands Petroleum, a Texas-based company also listed on Aim which has signed a memorandum of understanding with the oil ministry to explore a deal to capture flared gas on a southern Iraqi oil field, echoes that view.

"If you're a smaller company, a large project in Iraq could be a transformational event,'' he says. "We think that companies that have been there for a long time will be at the front of the queue [when lucrative exploration licences are ultimately awarded].''

Both companies believe the exploration potential in Iraq is simply too great an opportunity to miss.

"Iraq is the last great frontier in the Middle East. The striking thing about other new frontier areas is how poor their record has been over the past three years in terms of discoveries. In Iraq, 80 per cent of the oil wells ever drilled have been discoveries,'' says David Horgan, Petrel's chief executive.

The company was last year awarded a three-year $197m contract to redevelop the Subba and Luhais fields in southern Iraq. Petrel hopes the ratification of a hydrocarbon law will lead to the government confirming a contract, dubbed Block 6, which covers 10,000 sq km in Iraq's Western Desert. Earlier this year, the company joined forces with Japan's Itochu to work under a technical co-operation with the Iraqi oil ministry for the 760m barrel Merjan field in central Iraq.

Despite the opportunities, security remains a major issue. While Petrel uses local militia, Gulfsands uses private security companies to help protects its employees when needed.

Nor has it all been plain sailing, admits Horgan, and Petrel has had its own security scares in the past.

In September 2003, for example, the company got the "obligatory letter'', warning that anybody who collaborated with the foreign invaders would be "decapitated and burnt''. Somewhat incongruously the sender of the letter ended by apologising for any inconvenience. Petrel took the precaution of closing its head office in Baghdad and consolidating its offices across the border in Jordan. Today, its country manager tends to work from home.

"It does screw up your day-to-day operations in Iraq,'' says Horgan philosophically. "But in the south, where our operations are, things are okay.''

Security issues have arguably been less of a concern for Norway's DNO which set up operations in the Kurdistan-controlled north of the country, removed from the day-to-day violence of Baghdad. The company signed two production-sharing agreements with the regional government in June 2004 and "spudded'', or began drilling, its first exploration well a year later. Last week, it announced that one of its test exploration wells had flowed more than 8,000 barrels per day.

DNO argues that provisions in Iraq's new constitution ratify the validity of these agreements.

"Our experience is that the Kurdistan region is working relatively well,'' says Helge Eide, DNO's chief executive. "We consider all agreements to be legally safe.''

The company still needs to get formal access to export the oil but Eide insists that if everything goes to plan, it should be able to produce oil during this quarter.

But Teeling, Dorrier and Eide are not the only ones active in Iraq. India's largest state-run and private-sector companies are in talks on the joint development of a field in the country. ONGC and rival Reliance are believed to be in preliminary discussions to develop the Tuba oilfield in southern Iraq. ONGC had previously won approval to develop oilfields in Iraq but activity was halted last year.

Meanwhile, Lukoil, the Russian oil company, was given a contract to develop the giant West Qurna-2 oil field by the regime of former president Saddam Hussein. France's Total and the China National Petroleum Company were granted similar contracts at the time.

But executives at the world's major oil companies have not been sitting still. While none has yet committed any hard cash to the country, most have tried to foster relationships with Iraq's government, mainly by providing training and technical expertise.

"There is a misconception that the oil majors are not there,'' says Dorrier. "They are not able to send people to Iraq so they hold meetings outside.''

In recent years, both BP and Royal Dutch Shell (which has had a presence in the country since the 1920s and was a shareholder in the Iraq Petroleum Company), agreed to provide free assessments of the geological and technical data on Iraq's two main oil fields, Kirkuk in the north and Rumaila in the south. Others, such as Chevron, have organised training sessions for Iraqi engineers outside Iraq.

Executives say there is a significant skills shortage in Iraq. Many of those that were trained are either reaching retirement age or fled the country.

"People talk of a lost generation,'' says an executive from one of the oil majors. "English language skills are also very important.''

An executive at another major adds: "We are committed to Iraq and to investing there but unless there is security, we can't put people on the ground. We have given three conditions that we need to go in: an elected government, a constitution as well as petroleum legislation, and security.''

Once the hydrocarbon law is ratified, two of those conditions will arguably have been met. Security, however, remains the stumbling block.

According to Dr Gal Luft, director of the Analysis for Global Security in Washington, the insurgents have changed their tactics over the past 18 months. Whereas before, they targeted the basic infrastructure such as the export pipelines, they have now turned their attention on people such as security personnel. Many of the export terminals are also still in ruins from the first Gulf War.

Luft concedes that if the hydrocarbon law is passed, it will have benefits but he believes the general outlook won't change.

"No doubt it will be a net positive development but I doubt it will change the fundamentals. My main concern is the stability and continuity of the government and whether it would be able to convince investors that Iraq provides a hospitable investment climate.

"The common thinking in the industry is that Iraq is bad news, stay out of there,'' he says.

Kevin Rosser, oil and gas consultant at Control Risks, is equally gloomy in his outlook on the situation. "The problem is the industry is so opportunity-constrained as a whole, when it comes to Iraq there is a tendency for hope to triumph over reality. Iraq's oil industry is moving in the same tragic direction as the rest of the country. I am pessimistic about the prospects, at least for the forseeable future.''

Others, however, such as Petrel's Teeling, predict that it is inevitable that once the situation stabilises, Big Oil will be queuing up for a slice of the action.

Says Teeling: "Our problem is going to be to make sure when the big lads come charging in, which is as sure as the sun rising tomorrow morning, we're not going to be trampled all over... Our job is to make sure when the steamrollers come that hopefully we are on the roller and not under it.''

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Iraqi News
Sunday, January 07, 2007 Iraqi dates exports in danger
(MENAFN) Due to continuous delays in the issuance of export licenses by the Iraqi ministry of commerce, dates exporters said that the export of Iraqi dates is in danger of losing competitiveness to other dates exporting countries, Iraq Directory reported. A dates merchant, said that he suffered serious losses after the ministry delayed the issuance of export licenses from October to December. This delay forced importers to turn away from Iraqi dates. Another merchant referred the current crisis in dates export to the unstable security situation and the government routine. He added that Iraqi traders have to export their dates via Dubai and this adds extra expenses for them to pay. He also said that Iraq has lost very important customers with large markets like Pakistan, India and European markets. He pointed out that the Iraqi market witnessed a sharp decline in the quantities of domestically produced dates, because of agricultural pest, and the difficulty of providing means to control them permanently. A researcher said that Iraqi wealth of palm trees has dropped from 30 million trees in 1980 to only 2.7 million currently. He added that Iraq used to export 500 tons of dates annually including 624 types of fine dates.
Copyright ©2000 MENAFN All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer: Trade Bank of Iraq and MENAFN are not responsible or liable for the accuracy of all information including but not limited to financial market data, news, stock quotes, energy rates, currency rates obtained from MENAFN modules and shall not be responsible for trading and investment decisions made based on such information. Therefore the accuracy of this information and its applicability to your needs are not guaranteed

Iraq experts debate usefulness of plan to develop jobs program for Iraqis

Associated Press WorldStream
Jan 7 2007

WASHINGTON_Just as debate rages over sending more U.S. troops to Iraq, there are differing views about whether economic incentives such as micro-loans and U.S.-funded jobs programs would coax militiamen to trade guns for tools.

Some reconstruction experts say giving Iraqis jobs that include clearing streets and fixing water and sanitation systems would produce little economic benefit for a country on the brink of all-out civil war.

Others say civilian jobs programs _ an idea President George W. Bush is considering _ are designed to build security. Only when violence is under control, they say, can business flourish.

Details have not ben disclosed about the economic incentives Bush will announce as early as Wednesday. But those familiar with the plan say he is favoring short-term jobs programs, extending micro-loans to small business and increasing the amount of money that military commanders can spend quickly on local projects to improve the daily lives of Iraqis.

"Job creation is the most promising," said Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution. "I don't know why we haven't done it before. It's not the best way to build a new economy, but we need to address security even if that doesn't conform to Econ 101."

Military analysts say Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who recently finished his tour as the No. 2 general in Iraq, has recommended a short-term jobs program.

In a classified memo Donald H. Rumsfeld wrote two days before he resigned as defense secretary, he told the president: "Initiate a massive program for unemployed youth. It would have to be run by U.S. forces, since no other organization could do it."

Keith Crane, a senior economist at the RAND Corp., is skeptical because such programs employ insurgents but have little effect on their political activities. "In some instances, insurgents have participated in make-work schemes during the day, then fought the coalition at night," he says.

Bush also is considering allocating more money for a program established in 2003 to give field commanders money to solve local problems quickly _ and show American compassion and good will. The program was allocated $753 million (€575.5 million) in the 2006 budget year.

The Iraq Study Group recommended that Bush find ways to give U.S. officials in Iraq the authority and flexibility to quickly fund projects that would help rebuild the nation.

Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq watcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the president is expected to propose a significant increase in discretionary funds available for the type of activities under the commanders" program. But he said the real question is how much and who would hand it out.

"The difficulty you have with almost everything that comes out of the Bush administration is that there's a concept, but there's never a plan and there's almost never any real details in it," he said.

Crane, an adviser to the Iraq Study Group, said it is unclear how effective this money is in countering the insurgency or fostering conditions for economic growth and permanent employment.

He said funds in the military commanders' program are best used in moderation because commanders are not specialists in development projects.

"In some cases, the commanders have been manipulated by the local sheiks, in essence ripped off," he said.

On the positive side, he said, commanders often have a good idea, after talking with Iraqis, about what is most needed _ or even what would help soothe their devastation and loss.

"A lot of the money has been used by commanders to compensate people whose homes have been destroyed," Crane said. "Commanders have ended up paying Iraqis for pets that have been killed as well."

In Najaf, one coalition commander shelled out $100 (€76) for the death of a dog, he said.

As Bush prepares to detail his economic incentives, the Pentagon is moving ahead with a program to help reopen factories that were owned by Saddam Hussein's government and abandoned after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Defense officials have declined to identify the facilities for fear the factories, or their employees, could be attacked.

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Iran resumes exports to Iraq via Mehran border point

BBC Monitoring International Reports
Jan 7 2007


Ilam, 6 January: Iran resumed export of non-oil goods to Iraq via the international border point of Mehran on Saturday [6 January], a local official said here on Saturday.

Governor-General of Mehran Khaled Rahimi told IRNA that Iraqi border guards stopped export of non-oil commodities to Iraq via Mehran international border point (in western Ilam Province) due to a four-day holiday on the occasion of Id-al Adha (Feast of Sacrifice).

He added that Iranian tradesmen could resume export of non-oil goods to Iraq via Mehran border point, stressing they would face no legal problem in this regard.

Mehran border is considered one of the most important points for travel of Iranian pilgrims and export of commodities to Iraq.

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Al-Arabiya TV interviews Iraqi banking officials

BBC International Reports (Middle East)
Jan 4 2007

Al-Arabiya TV interviews Iraqi banking officials
Dubai Al-Arabiya Television in Arabic carried a new episode of its " Iraqi markets" programme in which anchorman Ali al-Kubaysi interviews Dr Diya Khayyun, adviser at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance for banking affairs and former director general of Al-Rafidayn Bank, via satellite from Baghdad; and Mahdi Rahim, chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Mansur Bank, in the studio. The subject of discussion is the banking sector in Iraq.

Anchorman Al-Kubaysi begins with this introduction: "The history of the Iraqi banking sector dates back to the first half of the past century, when Al-Rafidayn Bank was established in 1940. About 25 years later, a number of private banks were established in Iraq one after the other, including Al-Rafidayn Bank, the then largest Arab bank with an estimated asset of $30 billion. The invasion of Iraq in 1990, as well as the economic sanctions clamped on Iraq, has blocked the banking sector's progress for decades now. In the nineties of the past century, Al-Rafidayn bank and the state-owned Al-Rashid bank take possession of 90 per cent of the Iraqi banking sector's deposits and assets. Iraq now has 32 banks, including seven from the public sector, 21 traditional banks, and four private Islamic banks."

A TV correspondent adds that "the deposits at these banks total $9.8 billion" from the private sector, the public sector, and the Iraqi central government. These banks, he says, "which have an overall paid capital of 872.8 billion Iraqi dinars, equivalent to $587.7 million, still face problems years after the US war on Iraq in 2003." Attempts to promote the Iraqi banking sector over the past years, he says, "have clashed with a deteriorating security situation, and the banking sector has failed to keep pace with international developments in this sector."

Experts, he says, "attribute the weakness of the Iraqi banking sector to its lack of technical capabilities, its inability to offer advanced services, the familial domination of most of the banks, and the absence of overall strategies and plans." Each bank in Iraq serves 46,632 persons, he says, adding that "a number of Arab and international banks have recently obtained licenses to open branches in northern Iraq and other areas of the country." Some foreign banks have entered into partnerships with local banks, he says, adding that a Bahraini bank owns 51 per cent of the Baghdad Bank, the HSBC bank owns 70 per cent of the Dar al-Salam Bank, a Bahraini private bank owns 49 per cent of the Iraqi Commercial Bank, and a Qatari private bank owns 75 per cent of Al-Mansur bank."

Anchorman Al-Kubaysi says that "Iraq is preparing to allow a number for foreign banks into Iraq," asking what these banks can add to the Iraqi banking sector.

Al-Rahim says that "in fact, we are in need of foreign banking expertise," that "we want these banks to train Iraqi banking cadres on the modern banking industry," and that "the current Iraqi banking cadres are not qualified to apply modern banking systems."

Asked what the Iraqi cadres lack, Al-Rahim says that "they lack the English language and computer-related expertise."

Asked if he means that Iraq's banking cadres should undergo training courses, Al-Rahim says that "such training is necessary even at some private banks."

In reply to a question on whether if he expects these banks "to compete with one another to wrest a share in Al-Rafidayn Bank," Khayyun says that "I do not agree with Al-Rahim that the Iraqi banking sector lacks expertise." He says that "it is the Iraqi banking sector that has taught the region's banking cadres," but that "we have been unable to make pace with the technological developments in the banking sector as a result of the economic blockade imposed on Iraq following the 1990 war."

Therefore, he says, "we are working hard to restructure these banks" and that "the Iraqi Government and the IMF have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the banking sector by introducing the modern international banking system."

Responding to a question on whether the private banks can be compared with Al-Rafidayn or Al-Rashid banks, Khayyun says that "the two banks have more than 300 branches in Baghdad and the other governorates."

Responding to Khayyun, Al-Rahim says that "our cadres should undergo rehabilitation and training courses," that "Iraq has a long history in the banking industry," that "Al-Rafidayn bank was one of the top 100 banks in the world," and that "our cadres lack expertise on modern banking system and the English language."

Asked if the Iraqi banks "can have a share in the market for the time being," Khayyun says: "I believe they cannot because people still trust state banks mote than private banks."

Asked if the Iraqi banks will extend loans to the economic sector of the country, Al-Rahim says that "the purpose of the establishment of banks is to extend loans, without which no bank can make profit." The problem, he says, "is that Iraqi companies have suspended their businesses and no longer ask for loans." At the same time, he says, "banks hesitate to extend loans as a result of insecurity in the country." If security and stability prevails in Baghdad, he says, "the Iraqi economy will make a major progress," adding that "interest rates are high for the time being - a fact which will hamper the work of these companies." He also says that "most of the Iraqi banks deposit their assets in the Central Bank of Iraq and get high interest rates."

Asked how he views what Al-Rahim has just said about bank loans, Khayyun says that "Al-Rafidayn and Al-Rashid banks have 94 per cent of the deposits in the country," adding that "banks always seek easy ways to investment because of the prevailing security situation." He also says that "banks extend personal loans," that "Al-Rafidayn Bank has extended 157 billion Iraqi dinars in personal loans," and that "other kinds of loans are extended."

Responding to a question on whether loans are extended to the industrial sector, Khayyun says that "we extend loans to the industrial sector and the other sectors, including the real estate sector." He also says that "at the behest of the finance minister, we have reactivated the Real Estate Bank to extend loans to citizens for housing purposes," adding that "as soon as the new investment law is enacted, we will invite international companies to carry out giant construction projects."

Anchorman Al-Kubaysi says that "In October last year, 11 Iraqi banks announced the founding of an Iraqi company to extend loans to small and medium projects," asking if this company can meet the private sector's needs, Al-Rahim says that "banks hesitate to extend loans under the current security circumstances."

Asked why plans to increase the capital of new bank have been put on the shelf, Al-Rahim says that "only a few banks have met the Central Bank of Iraq's condition that any new bank should have a capital of 50 billion Iraqi dinars," encouraging merger between Iraqi banks.

Asked if he encourages such mergers, Khayyun says that "mergers in the banking sector are a healthy phenomenon," urging the private banks "to take such a step." He also says that "any private bank can start with 50 billion Iraqi dinars."

In response to a question on how the new Banking Law has solved the problem of Central Bank Law and the Iraqi Companies Law, Al-Rahim says that "the two laws have been enacted hastily by foreign and Iraqi experts." He says that as a result, sometimes a conflict surfaces between the two laws," wondering why the Trade Ministry insists that citizens should be allowed to buy shares in banks.

Asked how he views the banking sector in Iraq for the time being, Khayyun says that "any project needs security" and that "unless the security situation improves, no project will succeed as required."

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Originally Posted by wciappetta

Yes you are right in your conclusion but the Iraqis are not looking at this from that side of the equation they are viewing this from the dinar side and whatever it translates into in decimal format so be it.

They will lift zeros and are not looking at this from the dollar side or should I say the western side. JUst my opinion of course but this is how it appears.

They might come up with any rate they want to have. The only thing I am saying is that it is mathematically impossible to get from 1260 IQD/USD to 1.26 USD/IQD by moving the decimal point.