Sadr meets Sistani at his house in Najaf

Baghdad today – Najaf – A source in the province of Najaf, on Thursday (May 16, 2019) that the leader of the Sadrist movement, Moqtada al-Sadr, visited the house of the supreme authority, Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf.

The source said in an interview with (Baghdad today), that Sadr visited Sistani, a visit to Ramadan, did not discuss the political situation or other in the country.

The visit comes one day after the events in Najaf, which killed a number of supporters of the Sadrist movement, who took part in a demonstration against former leaders of the current, accused of corruption.

Earlier, a video circulated by activists on Facebook showed Sadr in a taxi in a street in Najaf.

Baghdadtoday.news

Prime Minister’s Office issues statement in Najaf events and announces arrest of outlaws

(Baghdad: Al Furat News) The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, on the unfortunate violence in the city of Najaf Ashraf.

In a statement received by the agency {Euphrates News} a copy of it, “the order of the Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Adel Abdul Mahdi, the security forces have ordered the arrest of a number of perpetrators of extrajudicial acts that killed a number of citizens and caused the intimidation of innocent people and the burning and destruction of property” .

He added that “investigations are underway with all the accused and will be prosecuted all participants fire or burning, and to bring the person who proves the offense to the judiciary.”

The commander-in-chief of the armed forces stressed “the need to protect the freedom of peaceful demonstration in accordance with the rules laid down by the Constitution and the law.

He ordered Abdul Mahdi to open an investigation into how the security services in Najaf treated during the painful events and the reasons for failure to avoid or reduce the human and material losses.

The prime minister stressed “the need to continue to fight corruption, corruption and oppression by all political and public forces in support of the reform process and to combat corruption through peaceful and legal means,” and called on all to submit their documents and information to the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption.

A number of cities in the south witnessed a hot night security did not know for a long time resulted in the killing and wounding of at least 25 Iraqis, in addition to the burning of shops and commercial complexes and car agencies, while besieging supporters of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Moqtada al-Sadr, headquarters and commercial interests and houses of leaders In the ranks of the current decided to expel them on Tuesday, due to files of corruption.

And witnessed the cities of Karbala, Babil, Wasit, Basra and Najaf mass demonstrations near the homes of those expelled from the Sadrist movement and their offices and commercial interests belonging to them, but the most violent was in the province of Najaf, killing four supporters of Mr. Sadr and wounding 19 others during the storming a commercial mall belonging to the leader of the Sadrist movement Jawad Karawi, after the fall of two wounded in the province of Wasit neighboring similar acts of violence.

The governor of Najaf province, after an emergency meeting held today in the presence of Governor Luay Yasiri three important decisions against the backdrop of yesterday’s events in the province.

The Council decided to hold another special session to vote on a new director of the police leadership, replacing the current commander Major General Alaa Gharib, and to hold the full responsibility and the security services concerned events yesterday and considered them “failure and taking their real role towards the martyrdom of Najaf bloody events.”

The Najaf Council nominated “three names of provincial officers to vote for them in succession to the current police director in an extraordinary session to be held next Sunday.”

The council called on “the Governor of Najaf to take full responsibility as the head of the Supreme Security Committee to preserve the lives and property of people and demonstrators in the coming days.”

Alforatnews.com

The appearance of Mohammed Saleh for “The Covenant News”: the future of Iraq to develop the private sector and economic cohesion

Al-Ahed News – Baghdad The economic expert Mohammed Saleh’s appearance, that Iraq’s economic future, is to develop the private sector.

“There is a trend towards the cohesion of the social market economy, and it means effective partnership between the state and the private sector, and work according to the principle of utility, efficiency, profit and loss,” Saleh told the newspaper.

“The job of the state is to compete with the private sector, partnership, good supervision, creating a social market, and using oil revenues for social benefit,” he said.

“The market is driving development with the participation of the state and this is the future we are looking forward to, which is an ideological vision for the development plan.”

Alahadnews.net

America warns of “imminent threats” to US forces in Iraq

Reuters – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US military said on Tuesday there were imminent imminent threats to US forces in Iraq, which are now on high alert, stressing fears of Iranian-backed forces in the region.

“The US mission is on high alert now and we continue to closely monitor any imminent or imminent threats to US forces in Iraq,” said Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, during a briefing to a British general earlier on Tuesday.

Reuters.com

Pompeo in Baghdad on unannounced visit: Iraq govt source

BAGHDAD – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Baghdad late Tuesday on an unannounced visit, an Iraqi government source told AFP, cancelling a trip to Germany amid escalating US-Iran tensions.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the high security nature of the visit, said Pompeo was set to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi.

The visit comes two days after the US announced it was dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group and bomber task force to the Middle East to send a “clear and unmistakeable” message to Iran.

National Security Advisor John Bolton said the deployment was in response to a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings,” but did not elaborate.

“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” he said.

Pompeo had been en route to Germany but suddenly cancelled the trip due to “pressing issues,” the State Department said, without elaborating where he was heading.

But in response to a question about threats from Iran or its proxies on US forces in Iraq, the top US diplomat mentioned both Iraq and Jordan.

“As Secretary of State I have a responsibility to keep the officers that work for me safe each and every day all around the world. That includes in Erbil and Baghdad, in our facilities in Amman, all around the Middle East,” he said.

“And so any time we receive threat reporting, things that raise concerns, we do everything… that we can to make sure that those planned or contemplated attacks don’t take place, and to make sure that we’ve got the right security posture,” he said.

Pompeo had been traveling from Finland, where he had attended a meeting of the Arctic Council.

He was due to meet both Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas later Tuesday in Germany.

Rudaw.net

Possible return to the premiership ignites a media war between the coalition of Abadi and Badr bloc

BAGHDAD – A coalition of victory, led by former Prime Minister Haider Abadi, on Monday, the comments made by the head of the Badr parliamentary bloc, and announced the refusal to return Abadi prime minister after a statement to the latter confirmed that he would not object to that in If the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi did not succeed in completing its constitutional term.

The leader of the coalition MP Nada Shaker Jawdat, “The return of Abadi to prime minister, is not the hands of the parties, because such a thing must be a word for the people, and the people know the great achievements achieved by Abadi during the leadership of Iraq, in the previous stage.”

“These achievements support Abadi to get the prime minister a second time,” she said. “Talking about Abadi’s return to the premiership is not a dream, as some are promoting, but this is very likely, and is absolutely unlikely.”

The head of the Badr parliamentary bloc, Hassan Shaker al-Kaabi, earlier on Monday, the statements of the head of the coalition of victory, former Prime Minister, Haider Abadi, in which he said that the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi may not continue and ends its work before completing the four years being formed through alliances fragile .

Al-Kaabi said that “the current government has not formed as a result of alliances, but strong consensus and the alliance is something and consensus is a second thing, formed by a consensus between the conquest and the rest, and the government is strong and going on its way and lead internally well and externally continue to open to Arab and foreign countries in the interest of Iraq.”

He stressed that “the current government is not fragile and every new government faltering at the beginning of its work, and then correct the tracks, especially that it was necessary to replace ministers are not at the required level.”

He pointed out that “the talk of Abadi not to object to the presidency of the government in the event that the government of Abdul Mahdi on the way rejected, because his previous government did not provide anything to Iraq did not manage the financial crisis properly.”

He stressed that “Badr will not agree to take Abadi prime minister again, and this is just a dream of Abadi, and will not allow his return because he did not offer anything to the Iraqi people.”

Abadi stressed on Sunday that the current government is worse than the quota governments, saying it is the result of a coalition of “anxious and fragile,” while he expressed his readiness to consider assuming the presidency of the government in the absence of the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi continue.

Abadi said in an interview with the agency “Sputnik” Russian, “The current government is worse than the governments of quotas, the quotas benefit the entitlement of each block to form a government, which happened is to hold government quotas in isolation from the rest of the blocks.”

“We wanted to form an independent government with national professional competencies, but this did not happen, and I do not expect a streamlined government action based on this principle.”

Abadi added that “the current government produced by an alliance does not adopt the constitutional principle of the largest bloc, the result of a coalition of concern and fragile, and government performance is still below the required level,” noting: “We supported the government and supported the formation, although we did not share it.”

He continued: “Victory authorized the prime minister to choose competent ministers competent, but it happened that the share of victory that we gave up went to others,” pointing out that “refused to take over the post of Foreign Minister and all the positions offered to him.”

“The (coalition) of victory, which I work for and through him, is a project to reform the state.”

Abadi refused to download the adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister for National Security Affairs Faleh Fayyad responsibility for the lack of a ministerial cabin, saying: “I do not imagine that the reason is centered around Faleh Fayadh, there are a number of reasons: the difference of government coalition on the proportions and size and weight of quotas among them, Some parties to keep the equation of governance is concerned and unstable for reasons of their own, and there is external interference and its effects on the form and direction of the government.

He stressed that “his assumption of the premiership in the absence of the continuation of the government of Abdul Mahdi is decided at the time,” noting that “has a successful experience of leading the country and save them from terrorism and division and isolation and collapse, and that he will not abandon his national responsibilities in any location was.” )

Iraqpressagency.com

Four billion dinars of counterfeit currency enter monetary transactions in Iraq

Baghdad – Dr. Hamid Abdullah: Iraqi banking parties accuse parties, mafia and armed groups of entering large amounts of counterfeit Iraqi currency into daily trading in local markets!

While Iraqi politicians admitted that they were drowning the Iraqi market in counterfeit currency in the time of the former regime, a senior official in the Central Bank of Iraq said that 200 million dinars are discovered monthly by government and private banking agencies.

The Director of the Department of Issuance and Treasury in the Central Bank Jafar Ghulam that 4 billion dinars of counterfeit currency entered daily transactions and that 200 million of them are discovered monthly through citizens who are usually victims of this forgery.

Politicians opposed to Saddam Hussein’s regime acknowledged that, with the help of the Iranian government, they were paying a large block of cash from the counterfeit Iraqi currency to the Iraqi interior, using the printing press at local Iraqi presses following the economic embargo imposed on Iraq in the 1990s.

According to the banking source, it appears that parties and armed groups find in the window of counterfeit currency a door to achieve illegal profits and may find these groups of easy to deal with counterfeit currency within banking companies or even within government banks or through auctions sale of currency in the Central Bank of Iraq .

Data from the Central Bank of Iraq that there are approximately 40 to 45 trillion Iraqi dinars printed in foreign presses on the market in Iraq.

The central bank is forced to replace the paper money categories from time to time or reprint them with the addition of new technical specifications and specifications that hinder attempts to falsify them.

The Association of Banking Companies in Iraq that the owners of exchange companies have resorted to the import of machines dedicated to the counting of the Iraqi currency from Germany and China have the privacy of sorting the real currency of counterfeit to protect themselves from the frauds that cause great damage.

Akhbar-alkhaleej.com

Darraji: The Central Bank betray Iraq daily through the auction of corrupt currency

Baghdad – The former MP Rahim Darraji, the current central bank governor Ali al-Alak full responsibility for the effects of the currency auction, pointing out that the central bank has betrayed the country’s great daily by continuing corruption of the currency auction.

Al-Daraji said in a statement to the “news”, that “the current central bank governor on the bear full responsibility for the effects of the currency auction.”

He added that “the central bank and in cooperation with another government bank involved in corruption issues currency auction, and money laundering operations reached billions of dollars through the auction currency and the public prosecutor to move the judiciary and verify suspicions.”

“The parties involved in the case are the Integrity Commission, the Public Prosecution, the Customs Authority and the border crossings, and the government has to ask them questions,” Darraji said.

It is noteworthy that the case of corruption of seven billion dinars, which caused by the relationship and put his name on the currency is still vague in the absence of serious seriousness in the investigation of these two files, as well as the continuing corruption in the currency auction, which was announced by a large number of politicians and observers.

Ikhnews.com

IMF completes Article IV consultations on Iraq

A team from the International Monetary Fund, headed by Gavin Gray , visited the Jordanian capital of Amman from 25 April to 2 May, with the aim of holding discussions with the Iraqi authorities in the context of Article IV consultations , For 2019.

At the end of the visit, according to a statement by the IMF, Gray said the end of the war on a buoyant organization and the resurgence of oil prices offer an opportunity to rebuild Iraq and overcome long-standing socio-economic problems.

“But the challenges to achieving these goals are enormous, the pace of economic recovery is still slow, reconstruction is very limited after the war is over, and the large current spending increases risk, putting public funds and central bank reserves on track Its continuity can not be sustained.

Anti-corruption was very important to enhance the effectiveness of public institutions, to support investment efforts and to create employment by the private sector .

“In the short term, the short-term weakness is reversed in 2018, with a surplus in the budget and a build-up in the central bank’s reserves,” he said.

Non-oil growth is expected to rise to 5.4 percent in 2019 on the back of increased investment spending; however, fiscal deficits are expected to rise in the medium term, requiring funding that could squeeze the private sector or erode the central bank’s reserves.

Under these conditions, capital spending may be difficult to sustain, and growth will likely slow considerably .

” Therefore, policy changes and structural reforms – including improved governance – are essential to sustain medium-term economic sustainability and to lay the foundations for inclusive growth,” he said .

“The fiscal policy should be based on the gradual expansion of public investment, while at the same time building safety margins,” said the head of the mission.

“To find the required space, IFAD staff recommends budget savings of about 9 percent of GDP over the medium term by tightening control over current spending, especially on public sector wages, and taking phased measures to boost revenue Non-oil.

He explained that setting ceilings for current budget spending, starting with the 2020 budget onwards, would enhance the fiscal framework’s ability to support a higher volume of investment and adapt to the shocks in oil prices. Major reforms should include :

The containment of public sector wages; short-term spending pressures could be suppressed through compensatory measures, such as a ceiling on allowances, emoluments and other non-wage payments, combined with the enforcement of natural decline in public sector staffing.

Structural measures in the medium term, based on a functional workforce review and deeper reforms in the civil service system, will be necessary once new human resources and information management systems are put in place .

Gray said reforms in the electricity sector were key to addressing poor service quality and cutting high electricity costs in the budget because of low tariff rates, chronic non-payment of electricity bills and poor maintenance .

On the support of public finance management, strengthening the legal framework, improving compliance and other control systems were key factors aimed at minimizing the misuse of public resources and restoring discipline in the budget .

In the financial sector, a strong plan to restructure large-scale public sector banks and the strengthening of bank controls was necessary to ensure financial stability and would help promote financial development and financial coverage.

The strengthening of AML / CFT controls and the strengthening of supervision would help Iraq prevent the misuse of the Iraqi financial sector for the purpose of harvesting criminal proceeds from money laundering and terrorist financing .

He called on the IMF to address the weakness of governance and vulnerabilities that spread through corruption, which he considered a very important factor in achieving the goals described in the policies.

The Fund called for ensuring the independence and integrity of anti-corruption bodies, and the AML / CFT system should be activated to support anti-corruption efforts .

The IMF team will prepare a report, subject to approval by the Administration, and is tentatively scheduled for consideration by the Executive Board of the Fund in July 2019 .

DinarUpdates (private) FaceBook Group

IMF Staff Completes 2019 Article IV Mission on Iraq

May 6, 2019

End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board for discussion and decision.

Near-term vulnerabilities subsided in 2018, with the budget in surplus and a build-up in central bank reserves. Post-war reconstruction has been limited so far.
Fiscal deficits are projected to rise over the medium term, absent policy changes, and it will be hard to sustain capital spending. Growth is likely to slow markedly.

Tight control over current spending, particularly wages, and phased measures to boost non-oil revenue would make space for scaling up public investment and building fiscal buffers.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Gavin Gray visited Amman from April 26 to May 2, to hold discussions with the Iraqi authorities in the context of the 2019 Article IV Consultation. At the end of the visit, Mr. Gray made the following statement:

“The end of the war with ISIS and a rebound in oil prices provide an opportunity to rebuild the country and address long-standing socio-economic needs. However, the challenges to achieving these objectives are formidable. The economic recovery has been sluggish, post-war reconstruction is limited, and large current spending increases risk placing the public finances and central bank reserves on an unsustainable path. Moreover, combatting corruption is critical to promote the effectiveness of public institutions and to support private-sector investment and job creation.

“Near-term vulnerabilities subsided in 2018, with the budget in surplus and a build-up in central bank reserves. Non-oil growth is expected to increase to 5.4 percent in 2019 on the back of higher investment spending. However, fiscal deficits are projected to rise over the medium term, requiring financing that may crowd out the private sector or erode central bank reserves. In these circumstances, it would be hard to sustain capital spending, and growth would slow markedly.

“Policy changes and structural reforms—including to improve governance—are therefore essential to maintain medium-term sustainability and lay the foundations for inclusive growth.

“Fiscal policy should aim to scale up public investment gradually while building fiscal buffers. To make space for this, staff recommends budgetary savings of around 9 percent of GDP over the medium term through tight control of current spending, particularly public-sector wages, and phased measures to boost non-oil revenue. Setting ceilings on current expenditure in the 2020 budget onwards would strengthen the fiscal framework’s capacity to support higher capital spending and to adapt to oil price shocks. Key reforms should include:

Containing public-sector wages. Spending pressures could be dampened in the short run through compensation measures such as capping allowances, bonuses and other non‑base wage payments, and by not fully replacing retirees. Structural measures will be required over the medium term, based on a functional workforce review as well as deeper civil service reform once new HR management and information systems are in place.

Electricity reforms are key to addressing the weak quality of service and reducing the high budgetary costs, due to modest tariff rates, chronic non-payment of electricity bills, poor maintenance and over-reliance on expensive generation sources, coupled with losses throughout the generation, transmission, and distribution process. It would be important to ensure that the poor and most vulnerable are protected throughout this reform.

Bolstering public financial management. Enhancing the legal framework and improving commitment and other control systems are key to minimizing misuse of public resources and restoring budgetary discipline.

“In the financial sector, a robust plan to restructure the large public banks coupled with enhanced supervision is essential to secure financial stability and will help promote financial development and inclusion. Strengthening anti-money laundering and countering financing terrorism (AML/CFT) controls and oversight will help prevent Iraq’s financial sector from being misused for the laundering of criminal proceeds and terrorist financing.

“Addressing governance weaknesses and corruption vulnerabilities is critical to achieving the described policy objectives. As a first step, the authorities need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the corruption risks present in Iraq and then implement policies to tackle these risks in a coherent and coordinated manner. The legislative framework needs to be strengthened to effectively prevent officials from abusing their position or misusing state resources. To this end, laws strengthening the asset declaration regime and criminalizing illicit gains should be rapidly adopted. Furthermore, the independence and integrity of bodies involved in combatting corruption should be ensured and the AML/CFT regime should be mobilized to support anti-corruption efforts.
“The team will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, is tentatively scheduled to be considered by the IMF’s Executive Board in July 2019.

“The IMF team would like to thank the authorities for the candid and constructive discussions during this visit.”

Imf.org