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

Dr Kim Howells, Minister of State at the external hyperlinkForeign and Commonwealth Office, welcomed yesterday’s announcement by the United Nations and the Iraqi Government of an external hyperlinkInternational Compact for Iraq.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr Howells said,

“Britain will support the Iraqi government and UN in their efforts to make progress on economic reform, underpinned by political and security reform. This initiative is a chance for genuine multilateral engagement with Iraq.

“The new constitutionally elected Iraqi government is now seeking to involve a wide range of partner countries, both regionally and beyond, in helping rebuild Iraq. We welcome this move to broaden participation in Iraq, as we believe that Iraq now needs the support of countries beyond the coalition, and in particular from its neighbours, if it is to achieve stability and prosper economically.

“In terms of the scope of the Compact, we recognise the importance of economic reform for the longer-term stability of Iraq. However, the success of any economic measures, will depend on continued political reform and improving the security situation. Progress in these areas is as important as progress in the economic sphere.

“We very much look forward to working with the Iraqi government, UN and other international partners to help the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people to make progress towards achieving a safe, stable and prosperous Iraq.”

International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, said,

"The Compact is a chance for the world to line up behind the new Iraqi government, to lend support in implementing tough reforms, and to harness the significant oil revenues that are already available. Better security and development go hand in hand. And both depend on political support from Iraqis as well as international partners.

"The Iraqi people rightly expect to walk the streets in safety; to have medicines in clinics, and access to regular supplies of water and electricity, and to benefit from the country's rich oil endowment.

"It is vital to ensure that the International Compact lays the basis for sound economic management of Iraq’s resources."

The Government of Iraq will use the International Compact to lay out its reform strategy over the next 5 years. The Compact will see progress on disbursement of existing pledges and debt relief. The Compact work programme should be primarily economic, but the basis of the Compact will be an agreement on prioritisation of Iraq’s own resources and the articulation of a strategy that will lead it to self-sufficiency.

http://www2.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/p...aq-compact.asp

WOW. the common sense section at the close of "your world with cavuto" on FOX was about the lack of a banking system in iraq. nothing really new but it was interesting to see it given that level of attention.

Originally Posted by clueless

WOW. the common sense section at the close of "your world with cavuto" on FOX was about the lack of a banking system in iraq. nothing really new but it was interesting to see it given that level of attention.

I'd be willing to be that Neil has some Dinar of his own...

I would not be at all surprised if he had quite a good number, probably more than most of us.. :)

Originally Posted by Adster

Well one way of stopping speculators buying more dinar would be to tell the world you'll lop zeros, right? At the same time, the message is saying to those that hold them they will lop zeros so as to get people to offload.

DON'T BUY ANY OF IT FOLKS. WE'RE WINNING AND NOT LONG TO GO BEFORE WE'RE ALL IN THE $$$$$'S.

Well if thats the case, I must be crazy. I just got more.

Originally Posted by Pippyman

Turkey drops six zeros from its banknotes

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...jectid=9005318


"Under the slimlined currency, a cup of coffee will sell for about 4 New Turkish Lira (YTL), instead of 4,000,000 old-style.

Coins, similar in style now to euro coins, will also return to widespread use. There are 1.345 New Turkish Lira in US$1 ($1.40). "

This was a zero lop, with a full reprint I believe.

Turkey had long suffered from hyper inflation (a problem that Iraq, doesn't have) and their banknotes were absurd. They had 10,000,000 lira notes it was just silly.



after the reprint it would look something like this:



On the other hand Iraq just printed up the NID a few years ago and their highest note is only 25,000

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven other former officials on charges of crimes against humanity ended after nine months Thursday with closing arguments from the final two defendants. The chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, said he and four other judges would announce their verdict, which could carry the possibility of death by hanging for Saddam, on Oct. 16.

The former Iraqi dictator and the seven others, mostly high-ranking officials of his Sunni Arab-led government and military apparatus, are charged with orchestrating the executions of 148 men and boys in the mostly Shiite village of Dujail in 1982.

Saddam was not in the courtroom Thursday, having made his final arguments Wednesday through court-appointed lawyers whom he has repudiated. His own lawyers have boycotted the trial since July 10 to protest his treatment and the legitimacy of the entire proceeding.

The trial, the first of two for Saddam on charges that he ordered the mass killing of Iraqis, ended on a day when more than 50 people were killed or found dead in Baghdad and gunmen in military uniforms stole the equivalent of $650,000 from a bank's armored car.

A car bomb and a rocket attack that collapsed a small shopping mall in the relatively peaceful Karada neighborhood killed 32 people and wounded 101 others, an Interior Ministry official said.

Nineteen bodies were also found in various parts of the city, he said, all showing signs of torture. In the Baladiyat neighborhood, near the vast Shiite slum known as Sadr City, gunmen kidnapped five traffic police officers, said the official, who was given anonymity

Advertisement

because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

The bank robbery took place near the city zoo in the middle of Baghdad shortly before noon, as men wearing Iraqi military uniforms and driving military vehicles halted the armored car, bound the drivers and security guards and drove away with 1 billion Iraqi dinars, an Interior Ministry official said.

It occurred just as Iraq and the United Nations announced a new agreement to tackle corruption and create a more stable environment for foreign investment.

The daylight robbery of bank money by men wearing Iraqi uniforms was brazen even by Baghdad's increasingly lawless standards, and raised further questions about rogue elements in the nation's security forces.

The cash was being transported by a convoy of vehicles for the Warka Bank for Investment and Finance, a private bank with headquarters here, the Interior Ministry official said.

In court, the two defendants presenting their closing arguments Thursday were Taha Yassin Ramadan, a former Iraqi vice president under Saddam, and Awad al-Bandar, the former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, which approved the Dujail executions. Al-Bandar, looking frail and arguing the most minor points with Abdel-Rahman, gave a closing apologia that lasted more than 2 1/2 hours.

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4105662

The Iraqi Dinar has been volatile for decades. The sanctions caused major devaluation of the currency and ongoing inflationary pressures as well as massive current account deficits have caused the Dinar’s future to be cloaked with uncertainty. This may be a minor problem in the shortterm, but recent history is full of examples when minor inflations and currency devaluation have caused major economic meltdowns. A policy of repatriating Iraqi capital from the West, paying the down foreign debt, inviting foreign investment, and curbing down on inflationary tendencies can help to stop furthercurrency crashes and improving the standards of living in Iraq.

http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/..._gulf_iraq.pdf

page 40

Agence France-Presse English Wire
Jul 29 2006

by Patrick Fort

BAGHDAD, (AFP) - Shielded behind sandbags, investors at Baghdad's stock exchange pray that a planned law to allow foreign investment will rescue Iraq's war-battered market from a precipitous slump.

Armed guards defend the entrance to the exchange from the city's gangs of lawless gunmen, but nothing can protect the value of the shares traded inside from the capital flight triggered by Iraq's three-year descent into chaos.

The bourse has lost more than a third of its value this year.

Total market capitalisation fell from 3.25 trillion dinars (2.2 billion dollars) at the end of January to only 2.16 trillion dinars (1.6 billion dollars) at the end of June, according to the exchange website.

By comparison, the stock exchange in Tehran -- capital of Iraq's neighbour and fellow major oil exporter Iran -- closed Thursday quoting shares worth a total of 34.6 billion dollars.

This month, share prices can be expected to drop still further, traders say, because the sectarian dirty war which has gripped Baghdad has spread to the Karrada district -- which is home to the bourse -- and scared off investors.

"When I go to the exchange I read the Koran, verses that can protect me. I ought to come twice a week, but if I manage to come once a month, I think of myself as a hero," small investor Fadhel Abu Mohammed told AFP.

On Thursday, insurgents fired a volley of mortar shells into Karrada and detonated a car bomb, killing 31 civilians and hammering another nail into the economy of this increasingly desperate country of 26 million people.

"The economy is slow because of the unrest, and therefore the market is falling. But trading is also slack because it's dangerous to move around town and therefore to come here," said broker Haitham Saman.

In other words, some experts argue, many of the 93 companies whose shares are listed in Baghdad are undervalued simply because nobody dares come to work to trade in them. In time, there could be massive profits to be made.

"Prices are too low. Stocks are being bought at prices five or 10 times less than their true value," argues Talib Tabatabayi, chairman of the stock exchange. "If foreigners come in, then prices will rise again."

Later this year, Iraq's parliament is expected to pass a new law allowing foreign investors to enter Iraq -- home to the world's second or third largest oil reserves -- on almost the same terms as local outfits.

The law is controversial, some Iraqi leaders fear losing strategic control of the economy to profiteering foreigners at a time of national weakness, but investors see it as vital in terms of attracting capital investment.

"There is a debate in parliament. It's difficult. But there are safeguards," said Tabatabayi, saying that the new rules would include a cap on investment, and an obligation to seek an Iraqi partner.

"Foreign investment will do us good. The foreigners will come here for their own benefit, but they'll also be acting in our interest," he added.

Most of those working at the exchange this week agreed with this analysis, but said that there were other ways to breathe life back into the market.

"Rich Iraqis who took their money abroad should come back. It was they who made the market before. But with the security situation, it's difficult," said 54-year-old Mohammed Kassel, a small investor and former oil engineer.

Rita Eliyas, a broker for one of Baghdad's main banks, said that electronic trading could also help.

"New technology such as buying over the Internet or the telephone could get round the security problem. Investors wouldn't have to come here," she said.

"In any case, it couldn't get worse. Prices will rise, God willing," said accountant Wiham Anton, an optimist who had come to invest 100,000 dinars (67 dollars) even though she earns 225,000 dinars per month.

"In any case, it couldn't get worse. Prices will rise, God willing," said accountant Wiham Anton, an optimist who had come to invest 100,000 dinars (67 dollars) even though she earns 225,000 dinars per month.

She's one smart cookie! ;-)