Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 06/10/2010 - 24/01/2011

Central Bank: the high inflation rate 0.01 will not affect the Iraqi economy

The Central Bank of Iraq, Wednesday, that the high inflation rate 0.01 for last month will not affect the value of the economic situation in the country.

The chancellor said the Central Bank of Iraq the appearance of Mohammed, told the Kurdish news agency (Rn), "The high inflation rate this month, 0.01 will not affect the economic reality in the country due to the continued growth of the value of the Iraqi dinar," noting that "the rise in this ratio is a natural place in all countries the world. "

He also explained that "Iraq's ability to build a strong economy are available in case the lifting of restrictions Alrutinp the free market, investment and banking business in the country," pointing out that "address the inflation start by activating the role of Iraq in the sectors of industry and agriculture organization of the Department file the country's economic ".

The Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation of Iraq announced yesterday that the high inflation rate in the country last month of 0.01, an expected continued rise unless action is activation of the private sector in the country.

The Central Bank of Iraq announced last October for low j the rate of inflation in Iraq, to 2.7% compared with last September, which encouraged the launch of liquidity for banks by 5% of the cash reserves of the existing legal to have, in order to expand lending operations and advancing the development.

Known that excessive inflation in the general level of prices and rising incomes Ouanasr cash component of cash income such as wages or profits as well as high costs and excessive in the creation of cash balances.

And a number of economists fear the continuing high rates of inflation in the country in the absence of mechanisms to reduce the height of government institutions on the management of the economy in the country.

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/197387/

Iraqi Finance Ministry: Iranian Banks in Iraq Exempt from UN Sanctions

A leading official in the Iraqi Ministry of Finance said on Monday that the Iranian banks currently operating in Iraq, and those planning to open branches in the country, are not covered by UN sanctions as they are not state-owned.

The Finance Ministry’s undersecretary, Fadel Nabi, told AKnews that the Iranian banks present in Iraq are private ventures that have licenses to operate in Iraq.

Mr. Nabi explained that the Ministry has a list of the banks that are included within the economic sanctions imposed by the UN on Iran and those banks would not be permitted to open branches in Iraq.

For several years Iran and Iraq have enjoyed healthy bilateral trade and investment relations.

The head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tehran, Yahya Isaac, announced that the Bank of Iraq would be opening a branch in Iran in the near future.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...-un-sanctions/

Al Jaafari calls to maintain Iraq progress

Head of the Reform Movement Ibrahim Al Jaafari affirmed that the quartet meeting stressed the necessity for the government to encompass all political parties.

Al Jaafari called to pursue progress and maintain attained achievements.

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

Kuwait and Iraq Agree New Border Deal

Iraq and Kuwait have agreed to create a 500-metre no-man’s land on each side of the border, and to move Iraqi farmers to new homes, a Kuwaiti official said today (Wednesday).

The Al-Seyassah daily quoted foreign ministry official Jassem Al-Mubaraki as saying that under the deal, Kuwait undertakes to build up to 50 homes inside Iraq for the farmers living close to the frontier.

The agreement stipulates that the two Arab neighbours will each keep a 500-metre strip completely free of any activity except for border police, Mubaraki said.

“The deal was reached during a recent meeting of the Kuwait-Iraq commission headed by the foreign ministry undersecretaries,” he said, according to a report from AFP.

In 1993, three years after Iraq invaded Kuwait, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 833 which demarcated the land border between the two nations and granted Kuwait some territory that had previously been held by Iraq.

The two oil-rich nations signed a similar deal in 2006 after Iraqi farmers halted construction of a 200-kilometre (125-mile) irrigation pipeline on the border when Kuwait claimed it passed through its territory.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...w-border-deal/

Egyptian Central Bank Trains Iraq’s Bankers

With the stated aim of contributing to the reform of the Iraqi banking sector, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)’s Banking Institute has begun training employees of Iraq’s central bank in modern methods of banking and finance, administration and human resources.

According to Banking Institute Executive Director, Hala al-Said, the move comes within the context of the World Bank’s strategy of supporting the Iraqi banking industry in conjunction with the Egyptian government’s desire to participate in the war-torn country’s reconstruction, particularly in the areas of finance and economics.

Al-Said explained that the first training course — devoted to the issue of banking supervision — had more than 100 Iraqi trainees. The institute will also begin a human resource management course in December for 20 Iraqi trainees.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...iraqs-bankers/

Economists: Iraq is losing 120 billion dinars to the process of attracting foreign companies

Iraqi economists said, that Iraq loses annually 120 billion Iraqi dinars to the process of attracting foreign investment companies, and emphasized that the neglect of domestic investment and foreign interest in investing in Iraq would put a serious economic trouble.

The economist said Ali Ke Ji told the Kurdish news agency (Rn) that "Iraq is losing annually 120 billion dinars due to the process of attracting international companies, investors, may not be more experienced than local investment companies known as efficient and the ability to build sophisticated investment projects."

It is clear that "the value of investment in the country, not the number of foreign investment companies to come, but the size of investment projects physically located."

For his part, said a member of the Organization of Economic papers Talqani Abbas told the Kurdish news agency (Rn) that "the continued attention to international investment companies turning a blind eye on the domestic investor will put Iraq in a serious economic predicament threatens infrastructure investment in the country."

He pointed out that "requires the Investment Authority and the relevant government agencies dealing with investment companies, foreign and domestic standards of efficiency and capacity to implement projects."

And that "Iraq's ability to promote investment must not marginalize the local investment companies which have the ability to meet the evolving requirements of the investment business in the country."

Announced that the national investment in earlier that the obstacle to attracting investment companies is the ownership of the land and the failure to protect the money of the investors.

And signed the national investment, at the end of last month, a Memorandum of Understanding with government banks to protect the funds of investment companies, which is building housing complexes, and called for the consolidation of central decision on investment projects for the advancement of the reality of the projects.

The Commission approved in 2006 a new law to invest in Iraq, according to the law is responsible for all strategic investment projects of a federal nature exclusively, while the regional and provincial bodies responsible for investment planning and granting investment licenses in their areas.

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/197428/

URGENT / Special Court established to study trade, investment cases

A special court has been established in Baghdad to look into trade cases, the spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council, Abdul-Sattar al-Biraqdar, said on Wednesday.

Abdul-Sattar al-Biraqdar reiterating that the main motive of the court is to “secure guarantees for investments.”

“Today, Wednesday, has witnessed the opening of a special court to look into trade cases in Baghdad,” Biraqdar told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, stressing that “the main goal of the court is to present commitments for foreign investors to guarantee non-loss of their capitals in Iraq.”

“The court shall study cases of conflicts in a legal manner that guarantees the rights of investors,” al-Biraqdar said.

“The court is an advanced one, agreed upon by the Judiciary Council and other legal parties, in order to push the investment process forward, along with Iraq’s reconstruction and its leading to the right direction,” al-Biraqdar noted.

With regards to possibility to open branches for the said court in other Iraqi provinces, Biraqdar said, “The court was opened in Baghdad and there is an intention to open other branches in different Iraqi provinces should this experience prove successful,” adding that the court will open branches in Basra and Mosul soon.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=139155

22 Power Plant Tenders to be Issued Next Week

Iraq will soon ask for bids on projects to install and run 22 gas turbines that could boost its power generating capacity by 30 percent in the next few years, an official from the Ministry of Electricity said on Tuesday.

Reuters reports that the ministry plans to ask companies to build plants in four provinces, install and operate turbines it has already purchased from General Electric, and sell the power back to the government.

Power-starved Iraq, trying to rebuild after years of war and economic sanctions, hopes to triple its electricity capacity to 27,000 megawatts from the current 9,000 MW in four years.

Laith al-Mamury, the head of investments and contracts at the Electricity Ministry, said the deal will allow the companies to buy the turbines on a delayed payment plan.

“I believe on November 30 [the tender details] will be offered to the companies,” Mamury told Reuters in an interview.

“We have the units. The investor will come to finish the rest of the equipment and operate the plant for 20 to 25 years,” he said.

The 22 gas turbines, valued at $40 million [47 billion Iraqi dinars] each, would be installed in Diwaniya, Muthanna, Maysan and Basra provinces, Mamury said.

The turbines would produce 125 MW each, or 2,750 MW in total, more than 10 percent of Iraq’s ultimate goal of 27,000 MW. They were among 72 turbines Iraq purchased in 2008 from GE and Siemens in deals worth more than $5 billion.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...ued-next-week/

BAGHDAD – Iraq's president on Thursday asked incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government, part of a deal to end an eight-month deadlock over who would lead the country through the next four years, including the departure of the final American troops.

The long-awaited request from President Jalal Talabani sets in motion a 30-day timeline to accomplish the daunting task of finding a team that includes all of Iraq's rival factions.
"I know and you know well that the responsibility I am undertaking is not an easy task especially in the current circumstances that our country is passing through," al-Maliki said after accepting Talabani's request.

The new government is expected to include all the major factions, including the Kurds, Shiite political parties aligned with Iran and a Sunni-backed bloc that believes it should have been the one leading the next government.

Many of the politicians were in the room with al-Maliki and Talabani when the announcement was made in a show of unity that belies the country's often divisive politics.

Al-Maliki, a contentious figure in Iraqi politics who rose from obscurity to lead the government in 2006, called upon Iraqis and fellow politicians — many who view him with distrust and animosity — to support him in the task ahead.

"I call upon the great Iraqi people in all its sects, religions and ethnicities and I call upon my brothers the politicians to work to overcome all differences and to put these differences behind us," said the prime minister designate.

Al-Maliki will have to find substantial roles for all of those factions or risk having them leave his government, a possibly destabilizing blow for Iraq's still fragile democracy that is struggling to overcome years of violence and economic sanctions.

The president's request Thursday was largely a formality, coming after Talabani was elected on Nov. 11 and at the time publicly asked al-Maliki to form the next government. Talabani then had 15 days in which to formally extend the offer, giving al-Maliki some extra time to work out the details.

The announcement underscores what has been a stunning comeback for al-Maliki, whose State of Law coalition came in second in the March 7 election to the Sunni-backed bloc led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi. But neither bloc gained the 163-seat majority necessary to govern, which translated into an intensive period of political jockeying.
As the political discussions dragged on, so did violence, raising concerns that insurgents were trying to exploit the political vacuum to bring about more sectarian violence.
Allawi and his Iraqiya coalition were never able to gather enough support from Iraq's political parties, which are still defined largely by their sectarian allegiances.
Although Allawi himself is a Shiite, his largely Sunni coalition was viewed with suspicion by many in Iraq's political scene who still harbor deep resentment over the Sunni-dominant government that ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein and worry about Sunnis returning to power.

That left al-Maliki, who in the end managed to pull together support from fellow Shiite political parties and the Kurds that propelled him toward a second term.

One of the most closely-watched developments will be what posts al-Maliki gives to Iraqiya. If the Sunni population believes it is blocked out of key posts and effectively kept from a meaningful role in government, it could risk a return to the sectarian violence that once ripped Iraq apart.

Al-Maliki will also have to weigh what role to give to followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The Shiite cleric's support for al-Maliki back in September was a result of pressure from neighboring Iran and is considered a key turning point in sending al-Maliki back to the prime minister's office.

But the Sadrists' anti-American stance, ties to Iran and their disturbing history as one of the major players in the country's sectarian violence, poses challenges about what cabinet posts to give them.

Al-Maliki asked the political blocs vying for top positions such as minister of oil and foreign affairs in the next government to put forward well-qualified candidates able to take on the tough challenges facing Iraq.

But ministry posts have in the past been a way to stack the government with supporters of various factions and in such an unwieldy government including all the rival groups, bureaucratic gridlock and indecision seems inevitable.
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Associated Press writer Saad Abdul-Kadir in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Link for above:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/11...g-new-cabinet/