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

MrsCK you are awesome Great work with the recap! I too think and FEEL that we are looking at this week.

Great job to everyone else also You all add to my excitement each day .

Originally Posted by jedi17

with forex opening soon you would expect more people to be here.

I think some might be down-playing this round so as not to get their hopes up too much.

Did you see this?

LawkSalih.Com - Government committed to adopting free market policy

Iraq: Government committed to adopting free market policy
Posted on Sunday, November 05 @ 08:50:19 PST
Topic: Iraq
The economic achievement in Iraq is often ignored, overshadowed by the violence in the country, Iraqi and American officials said. “The economic team has made significant progress,”said US deputy secretary of treasury Robert Kimmit who was in Kuwait for the International Compact for Iraq meeting. “They have stable currency, they have sizable foreign currency reserves, there are almost back up to pre-war level oil production, and they are able to finance a considerable part of their own government operations,” he told reporters at a conference late Tuesday.

There remains a gap on Iraqis resources however with what the country needs, which is why the government is calling for international support in its Iraq compact. The Iraqi government outlined its economic strategy to put forward, that is hoped to primarily diversify the country’s economy and decrease its reliance on oil. “Agricultural horizons are very promising but we are encountering impediments which need huge investments to overcome. We have been facing the problem of water supplies with our neighbours,” said its Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation Ali Baban.

Iraq however stressed that it will not go back to subsidies policy and will continue to keep its economic sectors “open”. But Iraq also will not expedite privatizations of its industries despite the government’s leaning towards an open economy. “We should not rush as some negative results may accompany any unplanned privatization process,” he said. The government is studying plans to privatize state factories, but most of the factories depend on costly government assistance, and recent move of “keeping the import door open” and without regulations and restrictions has put an end to many factories, he said.

While the Iraqi government remained committed to adopting free market policy, Baban said the removal of subsidies and facilities have hurt the agricultural and industrial sectors. To strengthen the industries, the government is asking the private sector firms to merge. “Many of the private factories are still small and cannot do the required task .. . we are trying hard to urge the Iraqi businessmen to merge their companies and establish big ones,” he said.

The government also believes that merging Iraqi small banks into big banks is necessary. It currently has 25 private banks. “Our idea is to have some kind of minimum capital for banks, to at least 20 billion Iraqi dinar. Some of the very small banks that do not have the capacity will have to merge, or otherwise they would have to raise the capital alone,” he said. The country also has six state-owned banks, the biggest of which are Rafidain and al Rasheed Banks.

Iraqi central bank is also trying to get private banks to participate more in the country’s economic activities, and for Iraq to be less dependent on the Trade Bank of Iraq, which is financed by a consortium of foreign lenders such as Citigroup and JP Morgan to provide trade finance services Iraqi banks are unable to offer. “We would like government’s import activities to be more diversified. We want all banks to participate, this is our policy in the future. Trade Bank is doing fine, but we don’t to have to be completely dependent on that,” he said. Al Shabibi said the central bank is currently succeeding in its fight against inflation.

“We are using interest rate and we sell our own bills to skim liquidity. The inflation rate now is at 51 per cent, down from 70 per cent previously. Whether it will continue to go down, we will have to see,” said al Shabibi. The Iraqi government has given out six licenses to foreign banks in 2004, including to National Bank of Kuwait, Arab Banking Corp, HSBC and Standard Chartered. Only Arab Banking Corp operates a full-fledged branch in the country; the others opted to enter Iraq via a local partner.

Originally Posted by fsndirector

I just got a call from a friend of mine here in AZ, who had to go to his mothers funeral in Salt Lake City, Utah yesterday. Last night they went to a neighbors and they found out from one of the people there that their son is in Iraq and he has been buying dinar once a week from the CBI and Thursday when he went in to buy some more they wouldn't sell it to him, they said they stopped selling it tell they revalue it. He asked them when that would be and they said in a couple days, he then asked them what it would cost to buy more at that time and they wouldn't tell him that. (of coarse) Very interesting call.


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTT

Don't get me wrong here I'm not saying you're full of it, but, an individual going into the CBI and buying dinar weekly and then the officials telling him this story that they can't sell until they revalue? We know CBI sold on Thursday as they had an auction. I think the friend is distraught from the recent loss. I love the friend of a friends neighbors sons stories though so please do keep um coming.

Bush just spoke and said nothing of the economy.

oops, didn't we have this article a while ago?

Originally Posted by fsndirector

I just got a call from a friend of mine here in AZ, who had to go to his mothers funeral in Salt Lake City, Utah yesterday. Last night they went to a neighbors and they found out from one of the people there that their son is in Iraq and he has been buying dinar once a week from the CBI and Thursday when he went in to buy some more they wouldn't sell it to him, they said they stopped selling it tell they revalue it. He asked them when that would be and they said in a couple days, he then asked them what it would cost to buy more at that time and they wouldn't tell him that. (of coarse) Very interesting call.


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTT

HOLY COW PATTY

This is so great that one of youngmen has gotten to know a bank employee enough to get that kind of info!!!

Originally Posted by Inscrutable

Don't get me wrong here I'm not saying you're full of it, but, an individual going into the CBI and buying dinar weekly and then the officials telling him this story that they can't sell until they revalue? We know CBI sold on Thursday as they had an auction. I think the friend is distraught from the recent loss. I love the friend of a friends neighbors sons stories though so please do keep um coming.

Bush just spoke and said nothing of the economy.

I tend to give stories like these a bit more credibility than you do. If I deal with the same person every week, I naturally devlop a repore. Even if its the guy at 7-11, over time you naturally carry on a friendly conversation.

If this person had been buying dinar every week and dealing with the same people, its not outside the realm of believability that e/she has developed a friendly relation. And why not give a little more info to someone you know? Its just human nature.

Do I take it as fact, no . . .but the scales tip toward believe rather than BS for ME

there you are oz.....stocking up on the green jellow?

Back to Story - Help
Saddam verdict shows progress in Iraq: White House 29 minutes ago



The White House welcomed the guilty verdict against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, saying it validated US policy in Iraq ahead of this week's pivotal US legislative elections.

"You now have absolute proof that you've got an independent judiciary in Iraq," White House spokesman Tony Snow told NBC television.

President George W. Bush's administration, which has endured a stream of bad news from Iraq, seized on the verdict as a hopeful sign of progress before Tuesday's midterm elections that have been dominated by the unpopular war.

Snow also rejected any speculation that the administration had influenced the timing of the trial verdict in Baghdad to boost Bush's Republicans in the election.

"I mean, the idea is preposterous," Snow told CNN's "Late Edition," denying that the White House had been "scheming and plotting."

"The Iraqis are the ones who conducted the trial. The Iraqi judges are the ones who spent all the time poring over the evidence from July 27th to the present," Snow said.

"It's important to give them credit for running their own government," he added.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih also dismissed any US role in the timing of the trial judgment, using the same language as the White House spokesman.

"I think it's preposterous," Salih said in an interview with CNN. He said the "judicial process here has proven to be professional."

The White House cited the trial as evidence that Iraq was on road to building a viable democracy and sought to portray opposition Democrats as lacking the will to win in Iraq.

"Part of developing Iraq to sustain itself and govern itself is to have an independent and reliable judiciary that conducts its business fairly and openly. That's exactly what's going on," said Snow on NBC from the site of Bush's Texas retreat.

"If you want the broader context, you also have to understand that the people of Iraq themselves are devoted and dedicated to the business of building a democracy," the spokesman added.

While praising the verdict, opposition Democrats said the trial would not shape the outcome of Tuesday's pivotal US midterm elections.

"Saddam Hussein is a war criminal, and he's getting what he deserves. But I don't think it has any impact on the safety of America," Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic party, told ABC's "This Week."

Dean said invading Iraq was a "mistake" and that Bush's team had ignored the advice of the US military in the war effort.

In 2004, the capture of Saddam by US forces gave Bush a brief boost in the polls. But escalating violence soon overshadowed Saddam's detention.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hailed the judgment in Iraq as a product of "impartial deliberations" and a triumph of the rule of law.

"Today's decision is a hopeful reminder to all Iraqis that the rule of law can triumph over the rule of fear and that the peaceful pursuit of justice is preferable to the pursuit of vengeance," Rice said in a statement.

The top US diplomat added that those convicted had "the right to appeal."

Snow said that the verdict also underscores the difference between the president's governing Republicans and opposition Democrats, many of whom have called for a phased US troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Amid a hard-fought campaign in which Democrats are hoping to take control of at least one house of Congress, Republicans have painted the opposition party's readiness to withdraw troops as a sign of softness in the "war on terror."

"Just because it's hard doesn't mean you don't finish the job," Snow told NBC.

"You need to ask yourself, should the United States and will the United States finish the job?" he added.

Democrats, said Snow, "are not going to tell you how they're going to win in Iraq."

If the United States is defeated in Iraq, extremists would have access to the country's oil wealth and "use that as a weapon against the United States, Asia and Europe," Snow said.

Print Story: Saddam verdict shows progress in Iraq: White House on Yahoo! News

Lets keep fluffing their egos . . .they are proud people. Its all about the BUSINESS of democracy . . .that is a very very subtle way of sliding that in

Originally Posted by jedi17

there you are oz.....stocking up on the green jellow?

I have had my green jell-o for a very long time now . . .just looking to afford the hot tub big enough to fit all my "newly found" female companions that come with my new millions.

But on a serious note, I have been keeping a low profile . .. but still here. I wouldnt miss this next week for anything