Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

Originally Posted by ourhouse37

what a great word! wodge. What is that? I'm adopting it.
kristin

Must be an English thing (maybe even just a London thing), can't find it in dictionary.com! As to it's meaning, think "stack" or "bundle", i.e. "great big bundle of cash/great big wodge of cash".

No Prices Increase Currently, High Production of Crude Oil

In a Press Conference for the Minister of Oil09/05/2006 Source: Iraqi National Congress

The Assigned Minister of Oil (Dr. Hashim al-Hashimi) declared yesterday, in a press conference held in the ministry HQ, that fire in the ministry was accidental due to neglect, it led to damages in furniture and documents in payroll department, saying that the ministry has backup documents.

He pointed out that his ministry achieved a record last month in exporting rates reaching (1.619) MBPD, which made the income, reaches ($3B) instead of ($2.150B), surplus value will be used to treat shortage occurring in 2005 budget.

He added: Oil productions like benzene and gas increased to reach (13) Million litter for each daily, in spite of some refineries stoppage due to electricity shut off from Beiji and Mussayieb power stations.

He denied any increase in benzene prices now. Referring to what some stations made in increasing prices was personal behavior out of the ministry's knowledge, he mentioned that an investigation committee will settle this matter after finishing the required investigations.

As for gas, he said that his ministry is providing factories with the crude gas by tankers due to damages of gas pipelines in Isehaqi and Latifyia areas.

He added: the ministry agreed with Parsons International Company to install modern counters in ports to measure quantities of the exported crude oil; it is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Oil revenues $3 billion a month

Iraq earns $3 billion from oil exports a month – ministry10/05/2006 Source: Azzaman

The hike in oil prices and a temporary surge in exports have pushed Iraqi oil revenues to $3 billion a month from $2.1 billion, the Oil Ministry said in a statement.

There has also been a hike in refinery output but refining capacity remains restricted mainly due to acts of sabotage, it said.

The statement, obtained by the newspaper, said Iraqi oil exports stood at 1.6 million barrels a day.

Prior to the U.S. invasion, oil exports averaged 2.2 million barrels.

But the surge in revenues is good news to the cash-strapped government struggling to upgrade public services and battling rebels bent to topple it and force occupation troops to leave.

The government, the statement said, has decided to use the extra cash to meet its budget deficit.

Iraqi refineries now churn out 13 million liters of gasoline but the amount is way below domestic consumption.

The country relies heavily on imports to meet fuel needs.

The statement blamed power shortages for the failure of refineries to boost output.

It said some refineries were idle due to power outages.

No deal yet on oil, trade ministers

No deal yet on Iraq oil, trade ministers10/05/2006 Source: Reuters AlertNet

Iraqi political leaders are still negotiating over who should head the oil and trade ministries in the new, full-term government being formed this week, the prime minister-designate said on Tuesday.

"There is still discussion about the oil ministry. There is a dispute. It may be finished today. There are also disputes over the trade and transport ministries," Nuri al-Maliki told a news conference.

The fate of the ministries, highly significant to efforts to rebuild oil-rich Iraq's shattered economy over the next four years until new elections, is part of broader bargaining among the main ethnic and sectarian factions.

U.S. diplomats, playing a role in the negotiations, have been pushing hard for Maliki to ensure posts to go to competent professionals.

Among the most frequently cited names for the key oil job is Thamir al-Ghadhban, a career oil industry technocrat since the days of Saddam Hussein. A secular Shi'ite, he ran the ministry after the U.S. invasion.

But Iraq's volatile sectarian politics could hurt his chances of being appointed.

Another frontrunner for the job is Shi'ite Muslim nuclear scientist Hussain al-Shahristani who was tortured under Saddam and spent 11 years in prison.

Shahristani, who says he refused an offer to release him from jail if he joined Saddam's nuclear weapons programme, escaped from the Abu Ghraib prison during the 1991 Gulf war.

He spent the next 12 years in exile in London and Iran. His opponents have accused him of being too close to Tehran. A devout man, he has always been close to religious figures.

The soft-spoken Shahristani is famous for his good reputation. But oil official sources said the oil sector needs a specialist to help it get over the increased problems it is facing and restore exports to a pre-war level.

Iraq's oil sector, crippled by decades of war, sanctions and under-investment, has lurched from one crisis to another since the U.S. invasion of 2003.

Exports dropped to their lowest level since then at 1.1 million barrels per day in December due to sabotage in the north and bad weather in the south combined with logistics problems.

But exports in April rose to about 1.5 million bpd increase, up from a March average of 1.34 million bpd.

There is no consensus on the trade minister either, negotiators said.

Iraq wins debt relief

Iraq wins debt relief 10/05/2006 Source: Trade Arabia

Hungary has forgiven 80 per cent of Iraq's $230 million debt to it, some $184 million, Finance Ministry spokesman Ferenc Pichler said.

Pichler, quoted by the national news agency MTI, said the states in the Paris Club forgave 80 per cent of Iraq's debt to them in 2004 and recommended that other countries should agree similar conditions with Iraq which had accumulated a large debt.

Hungary has agreed with Iraq according to the Paris Club's recommendation, he said.

Iraq now owes $46 million to Hungary.

Hmmm, Kuwait revalued, Saudi going down the same road. Which country is near to them and should reval to reflect the rise of oil to $70 a barrel???........:0)


http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/ne...909&Sn=&Cnt=31


Kuwait revalues dinar, talk Saudi may follow
Posted: Thursday, May 11, 2006

Kuwait City

Kuwait revalued the dinar for the first time in 17 months today, sparking a rally in regional currencies and intense market speculation that Saudi Arabia, would follow.

A central bank spokesman said the Kuwaiti dinar had been revalued for the first time since January 2005 to allow a 1 percent appreciation against the dollar.

The dinar, which like other currencies in the world's main oil exporting region is pegged to the dollar, strengthened to 0.2891 to the dollar from 0.2920 a day earlier.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and their four neighbours of the GCC, which supply a fifth of the world's oil needs, are working towards currency union in 2010. Speculation swept regional markets that other countries may follow suit.

"It makes sense as all of them are facing substantial inflows which they are having to sterilise to dampen inflation," said Richard Fox, sovereign credit analyst at Fitch Ratings.

"The issue now is what the other GCC countries may do and if this is a precursor to a more flexible GCC currency."

Central banks across the Gulf were closed today for the weekend. A Qatari central banker said the country had no plan yet for a revaluation. Officials in the UAE and Oman declined to comment.

The Gulf states also came under rare public pressure from the US this year to address their mounting current account balance of payments surpluses.

A US Treasury paper in March highlighted the scale to which soaring oil prices has boosted the current account surpluses of the big crude-exporting nations and exaggerated US deficits. It said oil exporters now needed to play a role in unwinding those gaps.

At their April meeting in Washington, finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrial powers also called for shared responsibility for redressing global imbalances and said it was up to the market to do so.

"This is consistent with the G7 communiqué," said Dwyfor Evans at Bank of America. "If you're going to revalue, it makes sense to do it when oil is above $70 a barrel".

Kuwait usually matches US Federal Reserve rate changes within days but has not followed the last few moves

It has so far left the benchmark dinar discount rate unchanged at 6 per cent after Wednesday's 25 basis points Fed hike but raised its repo rate to 5.625 per cent, an increase of 0.25 per cent.

The Saudi riyal surged 100 ticks against the US dollar hitting day's high of 3.7414, up around a quarter percent, after closing at 3.7503 yesterday.

Steve Brice, Middle East Economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai, said the Saudi appreciation was driven by hedge fund activity in the riyal forward market, which started after the central bank failed to match the last Fed move.

"We were forecasting a revaluation from Kuwait but not one from Saudi," Brice said.

Bankers said there was talk the riyal could be revalued soon. Saudi shares, which have been crashing since February, recovered most of their session losses on Thursday after the revaluation talk began.

"After Kuwait changed its intervention band on the Kuwait dinar there was increased speculation that there would be a regional revaluation of the currencies against the US dollar," a Riyadh-based trader said.

"Speculation of that has sparked selling of the US dollar and buying of the Saudi riyal. There is no official news it is only speculation -- mostly from offshore players,"

As oil prices have surged in recent years, the flow of petrodollars into Gulf economies have led to upward pressure on their currencies. Reuters

Hi Guys,

Just a thought...

Let's say in time the NID gets to say 1:1 or beyond with the USD. What will happen with the larger denomination notes such as 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, and so on?

Surely they would have to be withdrawn at some stage due to their value. Can someone give me their thoughts on this, as, if they were to be withdrawn, those of us holding them would have to make sure we changed them (hopefully) before they were withdrawn.

Neil

Originally Posted by njd2004

Hi Guys,

Just a thought...

Let's say in time the NID gets to say 1:1 or beyond with the USD. What will happen with the larger denomination notes such as 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, and so on?

Surely they would have to be withdrawn at some stage due to their value. Can someone give me their thoughts on this, as, if they were to be withdrawn, those of us holding them would have to make sure we changed them (hopefully) before they were withdrawn.

Neil

Not a problem, this has been discussed many times and it is as simple as seeing 10K and 25K notes phased out of circulation, you cash them in at bank just as you would any currency. US has $500. and $1,000. notes, but when was the last time you saw one?

Good luck to all, Mike

Originally Posted by Offshore-Wealth.com

. US has $500. and $1,000. notes, but when was the last time you saw one?

Good luck to all, Mike

Quite a while ago MIKE

i wanted some 500 dollar bills for christmas to give my kids and my local bank did'nt have any...had to give them each 5 100 dollar bills....they liked it anyhow....lol....but its hard to find them.....here's to the dinars.....may it peg soon....and may it peg high.....Pat