After the approval of the reference .. Sadr and Hakim stream agree to choose “alternative” Abdul Mahdi ..

Baghdad / Sky Press – Local media reports revealed that there are movements at the highest religious level in order to prepare for any emergency that may require the change of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi

According to what was leaked yesterday, citing local media, there are contacts between the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr and the son of the religious authority Ali Sistani and other political forces, led by the wisdom movement led by Ammar al-Hakim, to choose the most suitable candidate to succeed Abdul Mahdi as president Ministers.

According to the leaks, which did not comment on any political party, the overthrow of Abdul-Mahdi is awaiting the resolution of the matter after proving his failure to address many of the files of special importance as well as his failure to manage the affairs of Iraq.

Skypressiq.net

How much has the Iraqi money smuggled out of Iraq?

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq has smuggled and looted funds amounting to $ 150 billion, some of those funds are registered with the names of the former intelligence service and secret names and numbers, a lawmaker said on Tuesday .

Masoudi said in a statement to the information, that the issue of recovering the smuggled money transferred and immovable before and after 2003, where it was put in parliament and a law has been enacted to recover those funds and showed in the folds of talk in the parliament that there are Iraqi contributions to banks and sports clubs, It is therefore difficult to account for these funds. ”

He added that “the money smuggled between (100-150) billion dollars, where spread over large areas of the world and reach South America, in addition to the money overlooked by the government and registered with the names of the intelligence service and the names and secret numbers and these are among the money smuggled before 2003 ”.

He explained that “after 2003, a lot of money was stolen, especially in the era of (J Carno and Premier) in addition to money and gold coins looted from banks, in addition to money laundering operations amounting to $ 100 billion, and these funds exist in several neighboring countries, Egypt and the UAE “It has become commercial centers, real estate, airlines, banks and large-scale trades.”

And that “the magnitude of funds and lack of knowledge of their positions made the House of Representatives enacted a law providing for up to $ 10 million to those who know the government about the sites of these huge funds smuggled abroad.”

Almaalomah.com

Gold reaches its highest level in more than 6 years

Economy News _ Baghdad : Gold prices hit their highest level in more than six years on Tuesday as investors shied away from riskier assets due to concerns surrounding Hong Kong protests and the collapse of the Argentine currency amid fears of a global economic slowdown.

By 0518 GMT, spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $ 1515.56 an ounce, after hitting its highest level since April 2013 at $ 1518.03.

US gold futures rose 0.6 percent to $ 1,526.90 an ounce.

Hong Kong, the world’s busiest airport, was shut down on Monday. The protests began in protest at a bill that would allow suspects to be handed over to China for trial, but expanded to include broader calls for democracy.

On the other side of the world, fears of a possible return of interventionist policies dominated the Argentine market after President Mauricio Macri lost a margin beyond expectations in the presidential primaries.

Those uncertainties, along with fears of a protracted China-US trade war, have shaken financial markets and pushed investors into safe-haven assets.

Gold, along with the Japanese currency and US Treasuries, is seen as a relatively safe investment in times of political and financial uncertainty. The yen held near a seven-month high against the dollar.

For other precious metals, silver rose 1.4 percent to $ 17.29 an ounce. It reached its highest level since February 2018 at $ 17.36.

Platinum rose 1 percent to $ 860.75 and Palladium gained 0.8 percent to $ 1,439.11 an ounce.

Economy-news.net

Oil prices are making a big leap

Oil prices jumped on Tuesday after Washington announced a postponement of customs duties on Chinese goods, which traders saw as a lull in the raging trade war between Washington and Beijing.

According to Bloomberg, Brent contracts were trading at $ 60.80 a barrel, up 4% from the previous settlement price.

WTI crude was trading at $ 56.85 a barrel, up 3.5% from the previous close.

Shafaaq.com

A high-level delegation from the region visits Baghdad

A high-level government delegation will head to Baghdad after Eid al-Adha to resolve outstanding problems.

The delegation is scheduled to discuss with officials in Baghdad, the financial budget for 2020 and the oil file as well as the security situation in the disputed areas.

“The federal and regional governments have good intentions to resolve all outstanding problems,” a parliamentary source said, adding that several committees had been formed to resolve differences.

He added that the delegation will discuss coordination between the army and the Peshmerga to prevent terrorists from infiltrating, especially in the disputed areas, pointing out that a positive atmosphere prevailed in an earlier meeting between the federal and regional governments, towards the solution of problems.

Alforatnews.com

Market Review: “IMF Revises Growth Estimates Higher”

Iraq-businessnews.com

Iraq and Iran are considering removing the dollar from bilateral trade

Iraqi Ambassador to Iran Saad Jawad Qandil said his country and Iran are considering mechanisms to use local currencies in their bilateral trade to reduce dependence on the US dollar, the Mehr News Agency reported.

The ambassador noted that the two neighbors are in talks to find the best way to facilitate their financial transactions.

The Iraqi diplomat reiterated his government’s clear position on unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran, saying that these restrictions contravene international rules and regulations.

Noting that bilateral trade between Iran and Iraq was not affected by the sanctions last year, Qandil expressed his country’s readiness to increase the level of cooperation with Iran in various economic fields.

Iraq is currently Iran’s largest trading partner, and the two countries have taken important steps to improve their mutual trade over the past few years.

In early February, the central banks of Iran and Iraq reached an agreement to establish a payment mechanism to facilitate banking relations and promote trade between the two countries.

During the meeting, Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdul Nasser Hemmati, who visited Iraq to discuss the expansion of banking relations, expressed the hope that the trade balance between the two neighboring countries will increase further.

In early May, officials from the two countries held a meeting in Tehran to discuss the establishment of a trade commission between Iran and Iraq.

According to the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization ( TPO ), the two sides discussed at the meeting several issues including joint investment and establishment of industrial zones, facilitating the transit of goods, facilitating business trips, organizing pilgrimage and health tourism, as well as solving current problems related to mutual trade.

Iran’s exports to Iraq increased by 37 in the last Iranian calendar year (ending March 20) and neighbors are on the agenda to boost their trade to $ 20 billion by 2021.

Aynaliraqnews.com

Economist calls for transforming the Iraqi economy from rentier to free

BAGHDAD / NINA / A member of the Board of Directors of the Iraqi Economic Council, Baqer Al-Mashat, called for the government’s direction towards a free economy through activating a solid investment environment and cooperation and coordination between the public and private sectors. 

Al-Mashat suggested in a statement on Monday: “The creation of a special division in the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to follow up the steps of transition and cooperation between all parties to make this transition a success.” 

He called on the private sector, especially the banking sector, to support these trends by providing financial guarantees to attract companies and foreign investors. 

He continued, saying: “The best time to support these government trends, especially as the citizen began to harmonize with these measures, which ultimately serve his interests.” 

Ninanews.com

Certain Ministers May be Removed from Iraqi Government: Source

ERBIL – A number of Iraqi ministers may get dismissed from their position in the upcoming weeks as efforts have been intensified to do reforms in the government, an informed source revealed on Thursday.

There have been productive discussions and good understanding among the parliamentary factions on this issue which is said to happen in the upcoming weeks.

According to the information BasNews has learned, a number of political parties had been objecting to the new Iraqi government.

At least four ministers will be removed over alleged involvement in corruption, he said.

Basnews.com

The Exchange Rate of Foreign Currency in Economic Feasibility Studies

Below are the central controls related to the exchange rate of the foreign currency to convert the project inputs and outputs from foreign currency to its equivalent in the local currency, and that is by calculating the net discounted present value standard and the internal return on investments in economic analysis that governs investment projects that costs excess one million dinars.

Estimate the shadow price of foreign currency:

1. It is necessary to put central controls to amend the official exchange rate * to reflect the shadow price of the foreign currency, and that is considered one of the necessary requirements to implement the net discounted present value standard and the internal return rate on investment in the economic calculation stated in the instructions, paragraph nine.

The central controls for adjusting market prices distinguished a group of outputs and inputs traded internationally, where the projects production or usage of them is reflected on the abundance of foreign currency in the economy and thus project outputs or inputs used of such are considered purely foreign currency outputs or inputs.

* What is meant by exchange rate: the number of units of foreign currency, expressed in dollar per one dinar.In particular the following outputs and inputs of foreign currency were distinguished:

• Export-outputs.
• Outputs marketed locally that substitute imports.
• Imported inputs.
• Inputs produced locally that usually go to exports.
• Foreign labor.

According to the pricing rules the value of the output and input (traded) is calculated using export prices (FOB) and import prices (CIF), according to what is listed in the pricing rules.

In other words the pricing rules calculate what the project produces from foreign currency (quantity of exports multiplied by the export price (FOB) in foreign currency or the quantity of substitute imports multiplied by the import price (CIF) in foreign currency, as well as what the project uses from foreign currency and imported inputs multiplied by the import price (CIF) in foreign currency …. etc.).

In a later step, project outputs and inputs must be converted from the foreign currency to its equivalent in local currency (dinars) by using a specific exchange rate for the foreign currency.

2. Justifications for exchange-rate adjustment: there are a number of important and powerful arguments which support the view that the official exchange rate reduces the real value of foreign currency for purposes of calculating the economic national profitability for investment projects and hence for the purposes of investment planning. It is demonstrated in this context to call for assessing the dinar for less than (3.208) dollar (official exchange rate) when assessing project outputs and inputs of traded goods of exports, substitute imports and imports… etc.

The justifications to call for the use of an exchange rate that is lower than the official exchange rate are:

• The use of an exchange rate that is lower than the official rate is the appropriate action at the investment planning level to translate the country’s economic strategy aiming at stimulating central investments in the sectors that encourage the development of non-oil exports, as well as sectors that encourage the expansion of domestic production base in order to reduce imports and compensate it with local commodities. This helps to reduce reliance on foreign exchange earnings from crude oil exports and increases the share of non-oil sectors in the local production.
• The application of the amended exchange rate on project imported inputs will assist in directing investments away from aggregated sectors dependent on imported inputs and the preference of those sectors that rely on locally produced inputs.
• The use of the amended exchange rate helps to correct the balance in favor of the traded goods sectors compared to non-traded goods
• The real exchange rate has declined rapidly since the early seventies, through rapid rise of the level of prices and local costs which led by the steadiness of the official exchange rate to change in prices and actual local rate costs that gave an advantage for imported goods at the expense of locally produced goods, meaning that it led to deterioration of the competitiveness of alternative replacement goods and export commodities.
• This action shows that the official exchange rate overestimates the value of the dinar, compared to the foreign currency and from the promoting goods substituting imports and export commodities point of view of.

And in support to this view is the state’s utilization and in a broad approach to the customs and quantitative protection policies especially for consumer goods, as well as export subsidies that exports have through an amended export exchange rate.

3. Estimate the amended exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar to be used in technical and economical feasibility studies and for (1.134) dollar per dinar. This price should be approved for 3 years until re-appreciation by the competent authorities.

The Republic of Iraq – Ministry of Planning