Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 08/09/09 - 09/01/10

Gulf states agree on time frame for single currency

Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have reached agreement on a time frame for the planned Gulf single currency, a Kuwaiti official said on Monday.

"An agreement has been reached on a time frame for the Gulf single currency," by the ministers, said Kuwaiti foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah, cited by the official KUNA news agency. He provided no details.

The foreign ministers ended a meeting early Monday to prepare the agenda for the Gulf annual summit due to start later in the day, where the Gulf monetary union pact is expected to be launched.

The six-nation bloc has been vying to issue the single currency in 2010 but is way behind schedule, having failed to hammer out essential technical convergence preconditions.

In June, four of the six countries -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar -- signed the Gulf monetary union pact, which stipulates the establishment of a monetary council early in 2010.

The council will eventually develop into a central bank which will take all necessary procedures to issue the single currency.

Oman withdrew from the monetary union saying it cannot meet convergence prerequisites, while the United Arab Emirates pulled out after the GCC picked the Saudi capital Riyadh as the base for the future central bank.

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidAN...4T091857ZPTK69

Oil firms face challenges working with Iraq's SOC

Having battled alone through decades of war and sanctions to keep Iraqi oil flowing, Iraq's South Oil Company (SOC) may struggle to adapt to a sudden influx of foreign partners and an expected huge jump in output. Firms such as Britain's BP and Italy's ENI would have to deal with workers unfamiliar with modern technology and methods, and a state company susceptible to frequent leadership changes and political interference.
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"They will be looking at how to adapt to the SOC, which has been isolated for a very long time. It has done a phenomenal job just keeping output up, and has done so using a string and chewing gum approach," said an Iraqi oil industry observer who declined to be named.

Iraq's oil infrastructure is decaying after years of war and neglect. The SOC, which oversees the bulk of Iraq's oil production, has been only able to make mostly cosmetic upgrades to equipment. Engineers often sift through scrap for spares. Many installations and pipelines were bombed or sabotaged in the years of chaos that followed the U.S. invasion, and many of Iraq's most qualified workers fled the country.

"They have had such a brain drain that I wonder if the SOC even has the people qualified for the boards of the new joint firms," said a senior oil ****utive who declined to be named.

"There will be some culture shock and oil majors will have to train people. This could cause delays."

The foreign oil majors are obliged in their contracts to employ Iraqis and provide training. Many of the SOC's workers would be seconded to the foreign firms, stoking suspicion among Iraqis fearful of losing their government jobs and creating a potential administrative headache for foreign oil firms.

"What will be the salary structure? Will it be separate to that of the SOC? .... This will create problems among the workers," said former oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum.

On the positive side, many engineers said they would be keen to work with oil majors, frustrated after several years of little progress on the fields. The reception to vanguard groups of oil workers has been positive, said one senior oil E.xecutive at Iraq's second auction of contracts, which ended on Saturday.

"There are lots of people who just want to get things done," he said. "It has been surprisingly good so far."

The SOC would hold a 25 percent stake in the consortia that won southern oilfields in the bidding rounds, and was expected to provide board members and workers for the joint operations.

POLITICAL INTERFERENCE

Management changes at the Basra-based SOC could complicate matters. It has had three new chiefs in about 18 months, a turnover rate that, if continued, would make it difficult to implement the 20-year service deals given to foreign oil firms.

"The work of the SOC needs long term planning. How are you going to do this with a new leader each month?" said Mahmoud al-Jubouri, an SOC oil expert.

Part of the reason for the changes were personality clashes with the oil minister in Baghdad, Iraqi oil insiders say. Also, Iraq derives almost all its revenues from oil, putting the SOC under political pressure to perform. Political interference may also come from fears of a secession or a push for more independence in Iraq's south. Such talk has lessened in the last two years, but ethnic Kurds in Iraq's north have been able to use revenues from oilfields there to back aspirations for autonomy. This has been a thorn in the side of Baghdad's Shi'ite Arab-led government, which is trying to centralise power. It is likely to take no chances on losing its grip on the south.

If Iraq's new oil deals come to fruition, its output could rival the world's top producer Saudi Arabia, radically changing its economic and political standing in the region.

"The government is working hard to tighten its grip on the SOC, because it knows the power is all there," Jubouri said.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKGE...*****Channel=0

The Iraqi government put her hand on the palaces of Saddam Hussein in France and Switzerland

weekly news agency said Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr said in remarks published Tuesday that the Iraqi government and put their hands on palaces in France and Switzerland dated back to the era of the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Zubaidi said the newspaper "Sabah" the government that "the ministries of finance and foreign affairs in addition to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers formed committees to follow up the subject of money.

The former regime and was able to restore more than $ 300 million and the seizure of palaces in France and Switzerland they return to the dictatorial regime."

He added that "the case is now pending before the judiciary to ensure Aidithma to Iraq"

He explained that "the rest of the funds have very secret account numbers need to resort to major international companies specialized in this field", and the government entered into negotiations with a number of these companies, which demanded 50% of those amounts recovered in the event that the Government is unable to make such Step.

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...WG4eTfb3hY7ISg

Iraq calls for Gulf leaders summit in Kuwait to restore full relations

A number of Iraqi officials on the summit of the Cooperation Council of Arab Gulf states of Kuwait and called for support for Iraq in the fight against terrorism and reconstruction, said government spokesman Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh Iraqi for "the Iraqi press agency" it is appropriate now to look at Iraq as an element of stability in the the current political system, and will not be aggressive in any particular case against brothers and neighbors, and should take into account its potential as an economic actor in the economic equation, particularly within the framework of the region.

Iraq and hopes of his brothers gathered at the Kuwait summit of the GCC out the recommendation to re-confirm relations with Iraq, particularly by some of the neighboring and brotherly countries, which are still reluctant to specify the type of relationship with Iraq, which could play a key role in reducing instability in the region, especially between neighboring states and Iran, in the sense that Iraq could provide a recipe to reduce the stability of new of the controversies and tensions that occur from time to time between some Gulf countries and Iran, Al-Dabbagh said: We hope from our brothers support Iraq and its political support and assistance to be a true friend and brother in the region.

For his part, official media office of the Council of Minister Ali al-Moussawi said Iraq would welcome any meeting of interested brothers the Arabs, both in the GCC summit or elsewhere, and waiting Iraq is the support from the participants in the face and the war on terrorism and in support of the ages being beyond the stage of sympathy, which was effect in the previous period, namely from 2006 to 2007, and we aim for now is to start the actual era of cooperation, or that Iraq could provide to his brothers and takes them, and that includes all levels, and it will certainly reflect positively on the strengthening of cooperation between Iraq and Arab countries in particular GCC .. Moussawi: Iraq asks the brothers to support and sustain the legitimate demands of the hunt and the recovery of Iraqi terrorist elements, such as Izzat al-Douri, which take some of the countries of the region-based.

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...cldk0dfXLxUa-A

Egypt is the main gateway for Iraq's return to the Arab world actors

A member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives Jaber Habib Jaber, "Iraq is interested in the important and key to Egypt and it is part of the returning players for the Arab world."

It is scheduled to begin Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, an official visit to Egypt next week at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart.

He said Jaber in contact with the agency and the independent press (Iba) said Tuesday that "it is important targets for Prime Minister's visit to Egypt is the activation of economic cooperation between the two countries, especially Egypt and Atakhtzn to predetermined positions of the Iraqi situation, noting that the relations with it will be good for Iraq and the usefulness of the future."

It is expected that the two countries signed an agreement on strategic cooperation between them, particularly in light of the desire of Egyptian companies to invest in Iraq.

Jaber and that "Iraq needs the help of Arab countries in particular framework to counter terrorism noting that Egypt is working to important religious and Arab and Muslim worlds and do not have any sensitivity to the situation in Iraq, especially on this side."

Some of the congressmen and their statements during the press have accused some Arab countries supporting terrorists to carry out criminal acts inside Iraq to derail the democratic experiment in it.

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...itics&id=18726

CBI’s dollar sales reach 208m on Tueday

The Central Bank of Iraq’s (CBI) dollar sales rose to $208.515 million in its daily auction on Tuesday, compared to $159.175 million during the previous session.

“The demand hit $6.530 million in cash, covered at exchange rate of 1,170 Iraqi dinars per dollar, and $201.985 million in foreign transfers outside the country, covered at an exchange rate of 1,173 Iraqi dinars per dollar,” according to a CBI news bulletin received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

None of the 16 banks that participated in today’s session offered to sell dollars.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=123552

Head of chambers of commerce asks to speed up budget passage

The head of the chambers of commerce on Tuesday called on the Iraqi Parliament to speed up the passage of the 2010 federal budget.

“The delay in passing the 2009 budget disturbed the economic process,” Abdulrazeq al-Zuheiri said during a press conference held today at the Baghdad-based headquarters of the chambers of commerce, which was attended by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The 2009 budget was passed in April, but the allocations for the provinces were distributed two months later, causing a delay in the implementation of this year’s projects, Zuheiri noted.

“The delay in passing this year’s budget will increase unemployment and the suffering of low-income families,” he added.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=123551

Delegation from Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq arrives in Washington, D.C

After reaching an historic compromise on the Iraqi national election law, which will help usher in a new era for Iraq, two high-ranking officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) have arrived in Washington, D.C. to discuss the latest developments in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region with United States officials and members of the American business community.

Dr. Fuad Hussein, Chief of Staff to the President of the Kurdistan Region, and Mr. Falah Mustafa Bakir, Minister and Head of the Department of Foreign Relations of the KRG, will be in the nation's capital for one week. They will be holding meetings with Administration officials, members of Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several other organizations to promote increased understanding of the issues facing the Iraqi people and improve business ties between the two nations. During their visit, they will also travel to Detroit, Michigan, where they will meet with members of the Chaldo-Assyrian and broader Iraqi community.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...15085&Itemid=1

Ration card bankrupted

The Iraqi finance minister has demanded the Iraqi Parliament's financial committee to increase the amount allocated to the ration card in the 2010 federal budget.

"Minister Baqr al-Zubaidi demanded to increase the subsidies allocated to the ration card from ID3.5 trillion ID4.2 trillion," Lawmaker Sami al-Attroshi, a member in the parliamentary committee, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

He said that there are two proposed mechanisms to deal with this issue, either to devote the ration card to poor people only or to tax citizens more for getting the ration card subsidy.

"The committee has proposed to the minister to obtain a formula that mixes between the two mechanisms," al-Attroshi said.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZA...d%20bankrupted

Iraq to become a big player in OPEC, US official

Iraq will be a "big player" in OPEC due to the full exploitation of its oil fields the output of which is expected to ramp up five times in 2016, a senior US embassy official said on Sunday. "They're going to be a big player that wants to come back to the table, so they're going to have to negotiate with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela and the other OPEC members", the US diplomat added. The US official added there was still time for OPEC to reach accord on Iraq's quota, as it would be several years before the country will be in position to hike output to 12 million barrels per day.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Economics...-official.html