Day: April 21, 2021
Parliamentary Finance: We will monitor the implementation of the budget agreement between Baghdad and Erbil
Political | 09:55 – 21/04/2021
BAGHDAD – Mawazine News
The Finance Committee commented, today, Wednesday, on the government’s desire to challenge some of the budget items, and while it identified points that the government may allow to appeal to the judiciary, it confirmed that it will monitor the implementation of the budget agreement between Baghdad and Erbil.
Committee member, Adnan Al-Zorfi, said, “We in the Finance Committee agreed with the government on the entirety of what was stated in the budget law and dispelled all concerns about voting on some paragraphs. I believe that the government is obligated to implement the budget law, and I do not see a justification for the government to challenge this law, and if it does so, then I believe that the House of Representatives. He will take some measures towards that. ”
Regarding the budget items that may carry a financial benefit, Al-Zorfi said: “Any paragraph in the budget that costs the government and the budget additional sums outside the allocated sums. The government has the right to challenge it before the Federal Court and I think that the court will rule the government on that point, if any, but most of the budget items have not It is outside the framework of the total budgeted costs. ”
On the amounts added to the budget after the rise in oil prices, he stressed that “the economic treatments that have been put in the budget are capable of filling the deficit and not providing more sums.”
Regarding the parliamentary role in following up the implementation of the budget’s provisions, Al-Zarfi stressed: “Certainly, there will be intense monitoring from the House of Representatives, especially the Finance Committee, on government spending and the terms of the agreement between the government and the region, which is a commitment between the two parties and if the region does not comply at the time, the government will not pay any financial obligations towards the region.”
Yesterday, the Council of Ministers authorized Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi to challenge some budget provisions before the Federal Court.
Cabinet spokesman Hassan Nazim said at the weekly press conference that “some budget articles have been changed in a way that is not in the interest of the government’s procedures.”
He affirmed that “the Council of Ministers authorized Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi to appeal some of the budget provisions before the Federal Court.” Ended 29 / A 87
The regional government refers the budget law to the Kurdistan Parliament .. and Barzani reveals the reason for targeting Erbil
Time: 04/21/2021 18:46:10 Read: 351 times
{Politics: Al Furat News} The Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Region discussed today, Wednesday, during its regular session held under the supervision of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister.
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At the beginning of the meeting, Barzani indicated that: “We decided to distribute the administrative powers of the Council of Ministers to ministries, public administrations and offices in the governorates during a specified period, in order to provide facilities and services to citizens and eliminate red tape in government institutions, in a manner that ensures the completion of citizens’ work as quickly as possible in accordance with the stipulations. It is in the outlines of the government’s work program. ”
The Prime Minister shed light on the latest security developments in the Kurdistan Region and the results of the investigations into the recent attack on Erbil International Airport and the position of the international community regarding it, and said: “We are in constant contact with the Iraqi government to put an end to the attacks on the Kurdistan Region.”
Barzani also confirmed that the reason for the attacks is due to the independent policy of the Kurdistan Region, which is a policy that is the basis of the public interest for the people of Kurdistan, indicating that the region wants a good and friendly relationship with neighboring countries, and also thanked the international community for its stances, especially the United States and European countries. For standing by the Kurdistan Region.
After that, the Minister of Interior in the region, Reber Ahmed, referred to the importance of security cooperation with the federal government and the implementation of the obligations of both sides, especially the activation of common security points to confront threats and dangers.
In the second part of the meeting, the Minister of Finance and Economy, Awat Sheikh Janab, and Planning, Dara Rashid, reviewed the outlines of the first draft of the Kurdistan Region Budget Law for the year 2021 in specific numbers and areas (income, expenditures, loans, financial obligations and deficits), taking into account the tables allocated to the region in the Federal Budget Law. For the fiscal year 2021, which was published in the Official Gazette on April 12, and it was decided to refer the region’s budget bill to the Kurdistan Parliament as soon as possible.
In another paragraph of the meeting, a draft law (Rights and Privileges of People with Disabilities and Special Needs No. 22 of 2011) and a draft (Activation of Official Iraqi Stamp Drawings Law No. 71 of 2012) were presented, and in light of this, the Council of Ministers approved the two projects unanimously.
In another part of the meeting, the internal system for organizing the work of guards in the Kurdistan Region was approved by a majority of votes, with the aim of reforming this area, and the Council of Ministers directed the ministries concerned with its implementation.
Ammar Al-Masoudi
The Kurdistan government sets the date for preparing the region’s budget law and makes clear about salary deductions
104 Policy 2021/04/21 17:37
Baghdad today – Kurdistan
The spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government, Gutiar Adel, announced today, Wednesday, that the draft budget law for 2021 in the region will be prepared next week.
Regarding the salary deduction, Adel said during a press conference, “So far, the salary deduction scenario has not been resolved, because we are awaiting the next regional cabinet meeting, and on the basis of revenues, a decision will be issued on the issue of withholding salaries.”
Regarding the working hours of the region’s employees, the government spokesman added: “Unfortunately, there is always negligence in the departments of the Sulaymaniyah governorate administration, and we asked the governor to work on this issue and follow it up.”
He pointed out that “the Kurdistan Regional Government is ready to implement the federal budget law and is waiting for Baghdad to set a time to visit Baghdad to implement the agreement and the content of the budget law.”
Adel also spoke, “The Supreme Committee to Combat Corona will meet soon and will decide on the basis of the Health and Education Report on Corona’s conditions inside schools regarding the education process.”
Kurdistan announces a new round of talks with Baghdad … and Barzani sends a message to Kazemi
306 Policy 2021/04/21 11:42 ha
Baghdad today – Erbil
The President of the Cabinet of the Council of Ministers of Kurdistan announced, on Wednesday (April 21, 2021), a new round of talks between Baghdad and the region, while noting that Barzani sent a message to Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi regarding the implementation of the commitments.
The Chief of the Court, Omid Sabah, told reporters, on the sidelines of a council meeting, that “the regional government is preparing for new discussions with the federal government to implement the provisions of the general budget for the year 2021,” stressing that “Erbil is committed to the resulting agreement on the budget.”
He added, “There is a willingness for the region’s delegation to visit Baghdad again to continue the dialogues,” noting that “this time the talks with Baghdad will come within the framework of implementation, and we in the Kurdistan region have shown our full readiness to implement the agreement between Erbil and Baghdad related to the budget.” “.
Sabah explained, “The Prime Minister of the region, Masrour Barzani, sent a letter to the Prime Minister of the Federal Government, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, in which the first expressed full readiness to implement any obligations arising from Kurdistan.”
He pointed out, “This delegation will be a specialist and composed of the Minister of Natural Resources, the Minister of Finance, Economy, and the Chief of the Board of Financial Supervision in the region, as they will hold discussions with the Minister of Oil, the Minister of Finance, and the President of the Federal Financial Supervision Bureau.”
The Kurdistan Patriotic: The salaries and the sums for the region’s development will arrive from Baghdad next week
Political | 02:44 – 21/04/2021
BAGHDAD – Mawazine News
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan bloc confirmed, on Wednesday, that the sums for developing regions and governorates, and the salaries of employees, will arrive in the Kurdistan region, during the next week.
The representative of the bloc, MP Hassan Ali, said that “the sums allocated within the regions and governorates development and the salaries of employees will arrive in the Kurdistan region next week.”
He added, “The salaries of employees according to the financial budget amount to 320 billion dinars,” noting that “the transfer sums, which are deductions from the Ministry of Finance from other ministries, include the governorates of Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk and the departments of Garmian and Rabin.”
And, and that “Erbil did not send any book, so no amount was allocated to it.”
He stressed that “all this came with the efforts of the representatives of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the House of Representatives.” Ended 29 / A43
Al-Kazemi directs to cancel more than a thousand investment licenses
Economy
Al-Kazemi
2021-04-21 06:38
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Shafaq News / The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi directed, on Wednesday, to cancel more than a thousand investment licenses for delayed projects.
This came during his visit to the Investment Authority and briefed him on the progress of work and obstacles facing investment in the country, according to a statement of his office received by Shafaq News Agency.
The statement stated that Al-Kazemi directed the cancellation of all licenses for investment projects whose completion rate ranged between (0-35%) and the time period available for the implementation of the project has expired, and the number of projects to which this applies is 1128 projects.
The Prime Minister also directed that he be fully committed to implementing the provisions of Article 28 of the Investment Law by sending warnings to incomplete projects. The National Investment Commission shall supervise and follow up the implementation of procedures.
Al-Kazemi also directed to withdraw the licenses in the event that the investor does not adhere to the completion period.
Floating the dinar … a whirlwind threatening the collapse of the market and the segment of the poor
Reports and Analytics
Dollar
The dinar
Float currency
2021-04-21 06:28
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Shafaq News / Many citizens have real concerns about the talk of some, including state officials, about the possibility of moving towards floating the local currency, which will be a further blow to the Iraqi dinar after raising the value of the dollar already in the financial budget for the current year.
Specialists believe that the state’s tendency to float the currency would raise the dollar’s prices again, which would lose confidence in the Iraqi dinar, followed by the price increase in the markets, which would negatively affect large segments of people, especially the poor segment, which exceeds 30 percent of the Iraqi population.
However, other experts believe that the financial reality prevents the currency from floating due to the nature of the rentier economy and the lack of diversification of funding sources, as well as the central bank playing an active role in supporting the Iraqi dinar.
Floating currency is completely liberalizing the exchange rate, so the government or the central bank does not interfere in determining it directly, but rather it is secreted automatically in the currency market through the supply and demand mechanism that allows setting the national currency exchange rate against foreign currencies.
Finance: The float may happen in the future
Finance Minister Ali Allawi considered in a press statement that “the current price of the Iraqi currency against the US dollar after its devaluation will continue for a long time, and a full float may occur in the future.”
He noted that “the central bank will now work to maintain the current exchange rate level for the longest possible period.”
The Central Bank sells dollars in the auction that it conducts daily to finance foreign trade, and these sales currently reach about 200 million dollars, more or less, depending on demand.
The International Monetary Fund said in a report that Iraq’s economy contracted by 11 percent in 2020, which reflects the slowdown in economic activities.
The fund predicted that Iraq’s GDP would return to its pre-pandemic level by 2024.
Iraq is the second largest producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), after Saudi Arabia, and oil revenues constitute about 96 percent of the country’s total public revenues.
Advisor: The float will lead to a market crash
The advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, confirms, in an interview with Shafaq News, that “it is not permissible to float the currency in Iraq because the market will collapse in this case, because the entry and exit of hard currency is not through the market, which is only an exit for it, but rather the government is the one that brings this hard currency. “.
Saleh added, “If the government withdraws its hand, the supply will stop and the demand increases, and thus the market will collapse,” stressing that “the float is in economies in which supply and demand come from the market and that the state intervenes to buy and sell to achieve a price balance with its reserves.”
He pointed out that “a problem in Iraq is that the market is demanding and that the state is offering, and in the event that the Central Bank does not carry out the sale of dollars, it means that all the supply has stopped and there is no other offer, and if there is another offer, it is a little offer that is not sufficient to meet the demand and therefore the prices It will rise because the demand will be more than the supply. ”
The state is rentier
Economic expert Dergham Muhammad Ali said in an interview with Shafaq News that “we do not have free circulation of currency because there is no real circulation of capital due to the fact that the state is rentier and that the foreign currency in the market is its only source is oil sales and that the state’s main source of the dinar to finance the budget is the sale of dollars.” .
He continued, “The talk about floating the currency is unrealistic and that the Minister of Finance is not concerned with managing the monetary policy in the country because it is within the authority of the Central Bank, and that the real value of the Iraqi currency based on its cash cover can reach 1000 dinars to one dollar, so the issue of the float is raised. unrealistic”.
Ali pointed out that “floating the currency formally will make the currency in the hands of party brokers and their banks to manipulate its prices based on their interests.”
Iraq lacks a production base
A professor of political economy at the Iraqi University, Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, said in an interview with Shafaq News that “Iraq is not eligible to float its national currency,” indicating that “if Iraq decides to float the dollar exchange rate at the present time, it will jump to 3000 dinars per dollar.”
Al-Mashhadani added that “the floating policy is not successful for Iraq because the countries whose currency floats have an industrial and agricultural base,” noting that “Iraq lacks such a production base.”
The Central Bank of Iraq had decided to raise the price of selling the dollar to banks and exchange companies to 1460 dinars, from 1182 dinars to the dollar, with the aim of compensating for the decline in oil revenues caused by the deterioration of oil prices.
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