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

Bush plans reconstruction funds for Iraq
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- People familiar with U.S. President George Bush's new Iraq plan say it will include a vast increase in funding for reconstruction, economic growth and new jobs.

The request for billions of dollars, part of an effort to help Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is expected to be included in the plan to combat sectarian violence in Iraq scheduled to be outlined by Bush next week, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The strategy also includes a call for up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops to be sent to stabilize Baghdad and other troubled regions of Iraq, sources familiar with the plan told the Journal.

They said Bush will also attempt to secure funds for moderate Iraqi political parties to help them gain strength and create a coalition of support for Maliki.

Officials within the administration said other changes affecting Iraq include the likely nomination of U.S. Navy Adm. William Fallon to replace U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid as the head of the U.S. military's Central Command and Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus to replace Army Gen. George Casey as the top military commander in Iraq.


United Press International - NewsTrack - Bush plans reconstruction funds for Iraq

I'm sure this would have no effect on the R/V, but thought it was interesting, and curious to see how it plays out.....

05 January 2007 (BBC Monitoring)


"The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq [AMS] has announced that it has concrete information on the intentions by armed militias affiliated with a known political trend to attack various neighbourhoods in Baghdad," said an Al-Jazeera TV report broadcast on 4 January.

It continued: "The association said in a statement that these militias will try tomorrow Friday [5 January] to launch an attack under the banner 'The Day of Baghdad's Liberation', and will be taking advantage of the curfew being enforced by the government, which the statement describes as in collusion with the militias. The association called on the international community and Arab League to warn the Al-Maliki government of the repercussions of its sectarian practices."

This is immediately followed by a live telephone interview with AMS Spokesman Muhammad Bashar al-Faydi, who started by emphasizing the accuracy of the information, saying it came from "informed sources within the Interior Ministry itself". He added: "As for the militias in question, they are the primarily the Al-Mahdi Army along with what appears to be the collusion of the Interior Ministry's Commandos and some members of the National Guard."

Iraqi Sunni body warns of militia plan for Baghdad attacks on 5 January | Iraq Updates

Iraqi budget for 2007 allocated at 41b dinars

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05 January 2007 (MENAFN)
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In a press conference held in Iraq recently, the first deputy chairman of the Iraqi parliament stated that the general budget for 2007 is 41 billion dollars, and includes allocations for security affairs of 7.5 billion dollars.

The official said that tthe budget had been referred to the Economic and Investment Committee in the Parliament for deliberation, indicating that the budget will offer more than 136 job opportunities for Iraqis.

Meanwhile, tthe Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, said that the budget is encouraging and large compared to the past budgets. It is even more than the current year budget by 11 billion dollars, he added.

It is worth mentioning that investment expenditure in this budget amounted to ten billion dollars and the expenditures allocated for security are 7.5 billion, in addition to doubling the expenditure of education to reach 6.2 billion dollars, while the health sector allocations are 1.8 billion dollars, at a rise of 71%.

Originally Posted by adm

EDITORIAL


Police Storm Sharqiya TV Offices in Baghdad
(Nooozz Editorial) Jan 5 2007

Trade with Turkey Booms Despite Political Strains
(Noozz Editorial) Jan 4 2007

Social Safety Net Offers University Students 15,000 dinar Grant
(Noozz Editorial) Jan 4 2007

BREAKING NEWS


Bush voices regrets on handling of Saddam hanging
(Reuters) Jan 5 2007 2:27

Bush: No peace with Iran developing nuclear arms
(Reuters) Jan 5 2007 0:4

Bush says to outline new Iraq policy next week
(Reuters) Jan 5 2007 0:2

Thanks, nice post. I cannot think of anything within it that screams 'here comes a reval' more than the "15,000 Dinar grant" (to students).

Scott

The Iraqi dinar and floating the dollar in the structure of the national economy
January 05, 2007

Thus the rolling Iraqi Monetary (nominal value) specified by the law has become a criterion for exchange transactions, withdrawal and the international circulation according to system Gold rule; although, it was related to the British pound before the revolution of July 14th, 1958, especially in terms of credit and foreign transfers, as it has a metal cover coupled with stability. After the liberation of Iraq from the ring of the (sterling Pound), the Iraqi dinar remained as a cash unit (with real value) standing on its own compared to international rates.


In spite of the many shocks that hit the developing country in conditions of political and economic changes led to the dangerous decline of many of those currencies, like what happened between Iraq and its neighbor Iran in 1980 until 1988 of a devastating war sapped the human energies and infrastructure of both countries, the Iraqi dinar was not affected much and managed to keep its true value and relative stability throughout the war period. But after the government took the wrong procedure of issuing millions of dinars of the 25 note, the Iraqi dinar had become no more than a (commercial paper) in its (nominal value) and this sinister phenomenon which was the result of the misconduct of the government, then, paved the way for the American dollar to monopolize the Iraqi market. Since then, the Iraqi dinar remained incurably ill because the performance evaluation of the Iraqi monetary, particularly in the year 1994 after the penetration of the dollar, revealed that the dinar had no real value as an Iraqi exchange measuring unit against the dollar, despite the fact that Iraq has enormous oil wealth more than any country in the world, especially European countries, in terms of trade credit and cash deal.


The American dollar monopolized the Iraqi economic policy and the dinar has not been able to stand up to it after the removal of the former regime and the loss of control by the State over its economic and commercial structures. How will the Iraqi currency be stabile when it is represented by the ill dinar which can not be cured as long as the floating dollar overwhelms the whole Iraqi market; the Iraqi seller and the buyer deal only by it. Who is responsible for this decline?


A question put before the Ministry of Finance, as the Minister stated previously on the need for (evaluating the Iraqi dinar) and called for its activation against the American dollar. Will the Iraqi parliament seek to lay the evaluation foundations of a new monetary unit all over again? Or will the dinar remain weak against the dollar? And to what level will the Iraqi economy deteriorate if its spinal column, represented by the dinar, can not withstand to be straight up any more?(Source)AlSabah
Iraqi Dinars | Iraqi News and Iraqi Money

U.S. may dump PM
By Mursi Abu Tareq

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05 January 2007 (Azzaman)
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The U.S. is frustrated with the government of Nouri al-Maliki and is seeking ways to dump him, well-placed sources say.

The prime minister has failed drastically in efforts to reconcile the country’s warring factions and is even thought to be unable to solve difference among his own ruling Shiite-dominated coalition.

Maliki, the sources say, has caused the U.S. deep embarrassment through his government’s inefficiency in running the country and the way former leader Saddam Hussein was put to death.

Maliki himself does not seem to be interested to continue and is reported to have openly expressed a willingness to his advisers to step aside even before the end of his term.

The U.S. publicly backs Maliki but covertly it is hugely disappointed by the performance of his government, the sources say.

Maliki has his own grievances. The sources say he blames his failures squarely on the U.S. which is still the real decision maker in the country.

Maliki and his government complain they lack the authority to redeploy an army battalion or send Iraqi troops into battle as decisions like these are still in U.S. commanders’ hands.

The Iraqi government seems sovereign on the surface while the real reins of power rest with the U.S.

But the U.S., though unhappy with Maliki, lacks a clear picture of what to do next and the sources said even U.S. President George Bush is in a dilemma over what strategy to adopt.

There is no guarantee that dumping the prime minister or reshuffling the government will improve the security situation.

Saddam Hussein’s execution is said to have dashed any hopes for reconciliation as the country’s minority Sunnis now feel more estranged than ever.

Millions of Iraqis who oppose the U.S. and Maliki government see the execution as an act of revenge rather than justice.

The execution, though ordered by the government and carried out by its own militias, has further deepened the sectarian divide.

It has also deepened U.S. quagmire in the country. The Sunnis, the backbone of anti-U.S. resistance, will intensify their attacks on U.S. troops and their supporters in Iraq.

The U.S. quagmire is evident in the lack of a clear strategy. Washington is not at all happy with the Shiite-dominated coalition running the country but at the same time it cannot come to terms with its nemeses, the Sunnis, who are determined to force it to cut and run.

The U.S. is a victim of its own disastrous policies and there is no guarantee that whatever strategy it takes will help it out of its quagmire.

These might very difficult days for President George Bush as he contemplates a new strategy for his troops in Iraq.

Originally Posted by CharmedPiper

BRIGHT SPOT A Baghdad mailman helps keep the country operating amid the turmoil.

Published: December 31, 2006

SEEMINGLY everything went wrong in this dirty, crumbling and traumatized city in 2006. Thousands of citizens died violently. Daily electrical outages left neighborhoods in the dark. Sewers overflowed. But there is a seldom-discussed indicator of something that went remarkably right in Baghdad and throughout Iraq in 2006: $27.99 billion.

That was the government’s operating budget, dominated by salaries, subsidies for food and fuel and pensions. What went right is that through violence, political turmoil and governmental turnover, nearly all of that money was actually paid to Iraqi citizens.

The same could not be said of the portion of the budget devoted to capital expenditures, known more intuitively as the reconstruction budget. Some Iraqi ministries were able to spend no more than 15 percent of their capital budgets in the face of attacks on employees and work sites and a brain drain of personnel trained to handle contracts and large construction projects.

Somehow money for the salaries made it to the banks and then found its way to millions of employees in a government-dominated economy. If it hadn’t, a state teetering on the edge would certainly have collapsed.

So this is the determinative question for 2007: will Iraq keep paying its salaries? If so, there is at least a wan indication that a few basic ganglia of the national organism are still twitching.

Sinan al-Shabibi, director of the Central Bank of Iraq, says Iraq is likely to stay financially healthy in 2007 because of oil revenues, a large cash reserve and a powerful bank to guard against failures. Only a big run on the local currency or destabilizing flows of cash could cause major problems.

Still, banks are increasingly the targets of heists, and bank executives are being killed and kidnapped. The salaries they pay may be the last canary in the coal mine: the last approximation of stability in an enterprise gone toxic. As salaries go, so goes the last hopes for the new government of Iraq.

Yes. A BIG RUN ON THE LOCAL CURRENCY can't be allowed. So REVAL at least 1:1

Check this out. I was on AME checking real-time currency rates and when I went to the graph which I have set at 1 minute intervals to update it had IQD at 1720.8 euro to 1 dinar!!!!

Originally Posted by CharmedPiper

Check this out. I was on AME checking real-time currency rates and when I went to the graph which I have set at 1 minute intervals to update it had IQD at 1720.8 euro to 1 dinar!!!!

Just checked again and now 1720.0 in a matter of seconds. The fluctuation is phenomenal!!!!

Currency Converter

Iraqi Sunni body warns of militia plan for Baghdad attacks on 5 January
Iraqi Sunni body warns of militia plan for Baghdad attacks on 5 January | Iraq Updates
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05 January 2007 (BBC Monitoring)
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"The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq [AMS] has announced that it has concrete information on the intentions by armed militias affiliated with a known political trend to attack various neighbourhoods in Baghdad," said an Al-Jazeera TV report broadcast on 4 January.

It continued: "The association said in a statement that these militias will try tomorrow Friday [5 January] to launch an attack under the banner 'The Day of Baghdad's Liberation', and will be taking advantage of the curfew being enforced by the government, which the statement describes as in collusion with the militias. The association called on the international community and Arab League to warn the Al-Maliki government of the repercussions of its sectarian practices."

This is immediately followed by a live telephone interview with AMS Spokesman Muhammad Bashar al-Faydi, who started by emphasizing the accuracy of the information, saying it came from "informed sources within the Interior Ministry itself". He added: "As for the militias in question, they are the primarily the Al-Mahdi Army along with what appears to be the collusion of the Interior Ministry's Commandos and some members of the National Guard."

Al-Faydi added: "We know for a fact that there are gatherings at the moment in the Al-Shu'lah area in Baghdad - more than 150 vehicles - and in the Al-Amil area in Baghdad."

Asked to identify the areas to be attacked, Al-Faydi said they are the predominantly Sunni areas like the Al-Fadil neighbourhood, Al-A'zamiyah, Al-Sulaykh and Al-Ghazaliyah. He spoke of "a plan to clear Baghdad of national forces and of some of its components in order to limit its population to a specific sect, but this is not a new scheme, for thousands of families were forcefully displaced with the government's knowledge and the participation of the Interior Ministry's Commandos and National Guard, and we have documents proving this."

Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha