Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 22/06/2010 - 04/10/2010

Economist : Government failed to enhance the value of the Iraqi dinar

Iraqi economic expert said on Tuesday that the Iraqi government ended its mandate failed to bring the level of a currency exchange foreign currency in spite of the rise in oil prices in the global market.

Taher al-Yassin, told Kurdistan News (Akaniwz) The "currency of Finance of Iraq is still suffering from the crisis of the great difference between them and the hard currency, due to lack of financial planning for government economic institutions in the country."

He said that "government institutions should deal seriously in activating the general frameworks that would develop the role of the Iraqi currency, especially in light of market opening up of Iraq at all regional markets."

He added that "the main problem in the survival of the Iraqi currency untouched despite high oil Primacies, due to the lack of awareness of the country's economic, as well as arbitrary decisions taken by the Iraqi government earlier."

According to Yassin, "it is not easy to forecast economic prosperity of Iraq and the rise of the Iraqi dinar in parallel with the hard currency in light of the pending financial problems."

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/163655/

Economist : File debt is an obstacle to the growth of the Iraqi economy

considered an economist today, Wednesday, that the file of Iraq's debt obstacle to the growth of the Iraqi economy, which negatively affects the progress of the country economically.

Kazim said the military told news Kurdistan (Akaniwz) that "Iraq's foreign debt as a result of misguided economic policies adopted by the former regime in directing resources towards the Iraqi military arsenal on Iraq took a heavy debt of the country will suffer for a long time."

The military said that "huge amounts of money are paid of Iraq's imports for the purpose of extinguishing the debt accrued, and this will slow down the pace of progress and development of the Iraqi economy to face a deficit in the budget."

Askari said that "government advancement of the economy and stimulate the rapid and serious and spur investment in the country to enable him to apply, like other countries."

The debts of Iraq, as announced by the IMF up to 120 billion dollars, which is indebted to many countries as well as the amounts requested by the Kuwait compensation for Gulf War II in 1990.

China has decided to abolish the 80% of Iraq's debt to, which amounted to 8,5 billion dollars, according to a statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Finance issued last February after the debt was accumulated on Baghdad during the former regime, while the Arab states refused to turn off the debts owed by Iraq.

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/163726/

Iraqis, on cusp of building boom, repair homes

Scaffolding is creeping up the walls of bullet-scarred villas across rubble-strewn Baghdad, and gangs of labourers are piling up bricks as growing security allows a mini-construction boom to take hold in Iraq.

It may be the leading edge of a building surge as work now limited to a few hundred villas makes way for mega-projects when Iraq starts to restore its infrastructure and housing stock, left in tatters by decades of war, sanctions and neglect.

The Iraqi authorities want to build on a massive scale -- 1 million new housing units in three years. In a single project, plans call for 75,000 units in Baghdad's Sadr City slum. Gulf companies are bidding for many of the projects.

"The local production of construction materials will not be enough for such big projects," said Abdul Rahman al-Mashhadani, an economist at al-Mustansiriya University, who believes a government estimate that Iraq needs more than 3 million housing units is too low.

Iraq's infrastructure needs are daunting, more than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Roads, railways, the electricity grid, ports, housing and factories must be rebuilt.

The National Investment Commission has put together a wish list of 750 projects that alone require $600 billion.

That could be good news for early foreign investors such as French cement maker Lafarge, which has braved continuing insurgent attacks and political uncertainty to invest in Iraq's construction materials sector.

But it could be bad news for inflation, and for Iraqi consumers, as prices of bricks, cement and plaster, which have tumbled, are pushed higher by soaring demand.

For now, dramatic gains in the last three years after the sectarian slaughter that followed the 2003 ouster of Saddam have allowed Iraqis to renovate decrepit villas or start new ones. Rising government wages have fuelled the boom.

"It feels like a baby or a tree growing before your eyes ..." said Kadhum Jawad, 37, an engineer, as he waited for a cement truck to arrive at a plot in Baghdad where he, his brother and his sister are building a new 150 square metre home

PRICES, ONCE HIGH, HAVE TUMBLED

In the latter days of Saddam's 1979 to 2003 rule, as the economy tanked under the weight of sanctions and the cost of war, only wealthy families and high-paid officials could afford to build new houses or renovate a home.

The materials market was controlled by a state-run company, and while prices were subsidised, they remained beyond the reach of most homeowners. Ordinary government workers earned the equivalent of around $2.50 a month.

But the price of bricks has tumbled from two years ago, when the cost of waste oil used by brick factories was sky-high and fighting between majority Shi'ites and once dominant Sunnis meant many plants remained shuttered.

Prices of cement, sand, plaster and reinforcing steel used to strengthen walls are also down as old factories reopen, new ones are set up and more importers enter the market.

Materials now flow in from abroad. Importing cement from Pakistan, reinforcing steel from Ukraine and wooden doors from southeast Asia helps keep prices low.

As a result teachers, police officers and other wage earners are tackling home renovations.

"It was a dream for me to sell to a teacher or a government employee. They couldn't afford (these things). I used to sell them used bathroom sets and faucets," said Abu Karrar, a shop owner who sells mostly Turkish and Iranian products.

"Iraqis didn't know what a Jacuzzi or a shower cubicle was."

A tonne of reinforcing steel that sold for $1,270 in 2008 now costs $720, a three-tonne truckload of sand that went for $508 now costs $381 and a tonne of cement has fallen from $200 to $150, said one local trader.

France's Lafarge, the world's largest cement maker, is one company that will benefit from the coming boom.

It already has cement plants in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous and relatively stable Kurdish region and recently launched a $200-million renovation of an Iraqi cement plant near Kerbala in the south to boost production.

Imports will likely be needed nonetheless to meet demand.

"Our cement factories don't cover a quarter of the market's needs," said Abu Baqir, a Baghdad supplier whose plot of land is lined with piles of bags of imported and local cement, sand, stones, and brick.

Iraqis building a home have an increasingly impressive array of choices, not only of basic materials but also of luxuries like decorative tiles, Jacuzzis and shower enclosures.

"Iraqis are dazzled by the different types of ceramics and tiles they have seen since the fall of the regime," said Amer Ali, 47, a government worker building a home.

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/e...entId=10571667

Originally Posted by Seaview

Economist : Government failed to enhance the value of the Iraqi dinar

Iraqi economic expert said on Tuesday that the Iraqi government ended its mandate failed to bring the level of a currency exchange foreign currency in spite of the rise in oil prices in the global market.

Taher al- Yassin, told Kurdistan News (Akaniwz) The "currency of Finance of Iraq is still suffering from the crisis of the great difference between them and the hard currency, due to lack of financial planning for government economic institutions in the country."

He said that "government institutions should deal seriously in activating the general frameworks that would develop the role of the Iraqi currency, especially in light of market opening up of Iraq at all regional markets."

He added that "the main problem in the survival of the Iraqi currency untouched despite high oil Primacies, due to the lack of awareness of the country's economic, as well as arbitrary decisions taken by the Iraqi government earlier."

According to Yassin, "it is not easy to forecast economic prosperity of Iraq and the rise of the Iraqi dinar in parallel with the hard currency in light of the pending financial problems."

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/163655/

Senior Economist : Iraq is suffering from deterioration of the actual value of the national currency

Economic expert has warned that the peace Sumaisem Iraq is suffering from deterioration in the actual value of the dinar in spite of improved monetary value.

She Sumaisem in contact with the agency, the independent press (Iba) that the actual value of the currency represents the volume of goods and materials that could be available for a monetary union and that are related to rates of per-capita spending.

She said the central bank monetary policies implemented purely for the purpose of raising the value of the dinar against foreign currency but the application of these policies has been limited to glance away from the rest of the files or other economic attention to the implications that may arise, leading to a severe inflation of expenditure.

And because she raise the prices of petroleum products and electricity crisis has increased the rate of expenditure of the Iraqi family, and during the past four years the volume of inflation in the expenditure ratio of 45% in spite of the stability of the national currency according to reports by Human Development at the United Nations.

They noted that the Department of Statistics, Ministry of Planning indicated in 2006 that the Iraqi individual spends almost 40% of average income on energy file, which includes the purchase of fuel and electricity supply , which reflected the actual value of the national currency.

Showed Sumaisem hand he figures we find improvement of the currency in monetary terms, but in practice we find a significant difference in goods and supplies that we can get it because of the low rate of real income per capita, she some employees are paid 200 thousand dinars per month, but in practice how Goods and supplies could also benefited from and get through this salary.

She noted that the process to support the currency brought us the illusion of cash due to higher spending and prices in the Iraqi market.

http://ipairaq.com/index.php?name=in...onomy&id=27735

Kurds and Baghdad in row over oil smuggling

Iraqi oil officials and their Kurdish counterparts have exchanged accusations of smuggling large volumes of crude oil and by-products to neighboring Iran.

There are two oil ministers in Iraq. Heading the Oil Ministry in Baghdad is Husain al-Shahristani.

The semi-independent Kurdish region has its own government with Ashti Horami heading the Ministry of Natural Resources, i.e. oil.

There are big differences between the two ministries and governments on how to deal with Iraq’s almost sole source of hard cash – oil.

The ministry in Baghdad says oil exploring, excavating, refining and exporting activities fall within its jurisdiction. The Kurdish regional government disputes that and has developed several oil fields by signing contracts with foreign firms.

Baghdad says the Kurds export the crude they produce in their fields to Iran, the shipments which its sees as illegal.

Horami, the Kurdish regional minister in charge of oil, denies the accusation of exporting crude oil, but admits ferrying unspecified quantities of by-products.

The Kurdish official charged that the government in Baghdad was involved in the smuggling of up to 100,000 barrels of crude oil a day to Iran from its southern fields in Basra

Accusations that the Kurds are involved in oil smuggling operations first surfaced in the Kurdish region.

A senior Kurdish opposition official of the Kurdish Change Party said the ruling Kurdish factions of Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish region and Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, were involved in the smuggling.

The official Azad Jalak said the revenues end up in the coffers of Barzani and Talabani’s factions and military wings.

Horami, the Kurdish minister, said the money goes to regional government coffers.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...07-14\kurd.htm

American company ready to tackle electricity crisis in Basra

An American company expressed readiness on Wednesday to tackle the electricity crisis in Basra through an investment project to set up small and medium electricity generating plants within four months, according to a media source.

“A delegation from the company discussed with Basra Governor Shaltagh Aboud the possibility to establish electricity plants to deal with the crisis in the province,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The company seeks to establish small and medium electricity generating plants with a capacity between 1-100 Megawatt within four months,” he added.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=134489

Iraq to offer full crude volumes for August

Iraq is to supply crude to the majority of Asian term buyers at full contracted volumes for August, compared with an average 10% to 15% cut for July, Reuters has reported, citing oil traders. The cuts for July had been as deep as 50%, though some received full allocations, traders said. "Ports conditions seem to be better now and loading is faster than before," one source was quoted as saying.

http://www.ameinfo.com/237919.html

From MEMRI blog

Baghdad, Erbil Exchange Accusations about Oil Smuggling to Iran

The Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi Oil Ministry have exchanged accusations regarding the smuggling of huge amounts of crude oil and oil derivatives across Iraq's northern and southern borders.

KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Horami accused Baghdad of ignoring the smuggling of 100,000 b/d of crude from southern Iraq to Iran's city of Abadan. He said that KRG does not export crude to Iran, only surplus refined oil, through legal channels and after collecting the required tariffs. He said that oil products such as benzene and gasoil are exported openly and through private companies and that the revenues are collected by KRG.

On his part, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Sharistani said that Iraq exports its oil through established channels and that there was no evidence of smuggling in the south.

[One suspects that both ministers were being disingenuous, since smuggling of Iraqi oil both north and south has been going on since the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq in 1991.]

http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/28526.htm

Special equipments to dig 20 oil wells arrive in Amara

The special equipments to dig 20 oil wells by the U.S. Weatherford company arrived in al-Bazerkan oilfield in Amara, according to the media director of the Missan Oil Comapny.

“U.S. oilfield services company, Weatherford (WFT.N) sent its equipments to the oilfield to start digging 20 well, 70 km east of Amara,” Ali Abbas told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The project will contribute in raising the production capacity of the company,” he explained.

“The production capacity of each well ranges from 20 to 30 thousand barrels daily and the investment contract concluded with the company stipulates digging the wells within 31 months at a cost of $224 million,” Engineer Walied Khaled, representative of the U.S. company, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Iraq has opened the doors to foreign oil companies this year through two bidding rounds for oilfield servicing contracts, and has also invited specific foreign firms to compete for development contracts in others.

Iraq needs foreign companies to invest in drilling more oil wells as it does not have the capacity on its own to more than double output of 2.3-2.4 million barrels per day of crude, its oil minister has said.

Iraq, which plans to raise its oil output capacity to 6 million bpd in five-six years, holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves, but its fields are largely underexploited due to decades of war, sanctions and underinvestment.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=134494

Iraq Ministry to take over Camp Cropper

Iraq’s Justice Ministry is expected to take over command of Camp Cropper from the US military. The Ministry decided therefore to change the name of the prison to Al Karkh prison.

Iraq’s Government will be in full command of the prison while a small US Force will remain to protect the prison’s special wing including officials from the former regime.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News...p-Cropper.html