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Congress voted to fund the Iraq war this week
Increasing the number of dead in the ranks of U.S. occupation
ل. WASHINGTON: U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote this week on the Law of financing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.. As the network said "CNN" News America, will allow the law to legislators opposed to the war in the use of language "non-binding" determine the goals of the withdrawal of most combat forces in December 2009, while Republicans planned to abort the move.
2001 . This is the last invoice authorized by the Council on the mandate of President George W. Bush and lifted the total amount approved by Congress since September 2001, to fight terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to 857 billion dollars.
وتأتي مناقشة القانون مع ارتفاع حصيلة قتلى الجيش الأمريكي في العراق خلال شهر أبريل/ نيسان الماضي، إلى أكثر من 50 قتيلاً، وهي أكبر حصيلة قتلى يتكبدها الجيش الأمريكي منذ سبتمبر/ أيلول الماضي. The discussion of the law with the rising toll of dead U.S. army in Iraq during the month of April last, to more than 50 dead, the largest toll of dead U.S. army incurred since September last.
وتُعد هذه المحصلة منخفضة مقارنة بمثيلتها خلال نفس الشهر من العام الماضي، والذي سجل سقوط 104 قتلى، قبل أن ترتفع في مايو/ أيار 2007 إلى 126 قتيلاً، ثم تراجعت مرة أخرى إلى 101 قتيل في يونيو/ حزيران التالي. This is low compared with their counterparts collected during the same month last year, which recorded 104 deaths fall, before rising in May 2007 to 126 dead, and then declined again to 101 dead in June next.
وبدأ التراجع في أعداد القتلى اعتباراً من يوليو/ تموز 2007، بعد دعوة الزعيم الشيعي مقتدى الصدر أنصاره لتجميد أعمال العنف، حيث سجل نفس الشهر مقتل 78 جندياً أمريكياً. The retreat began in the preparation of the dead as of July 2007, after inviting the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr supporters in order to freeze the violence, with the same month, killing 78 American soldiers.
Inflation has exceeded the border and now threatens explosion
Fever mad prices eat up the green and everybody
.. Spectre began spreading in our societies more and more pervasive in the context of our daily lives., Economic experts from the inability to know the real reasons or when finished.. Inflation, which began that haunts people and devour the entire budget of families without stopped by one Over the past two years begun to pace the prices of basic foodstuffs which are food-poor and middle income rose to take her career accelerated rates not seen the world over the past century of major events, despite the disaster Humanity has been the century.
محيط ـ شيرين حرب وكريم فؤاد Ocean Shirin war, Karim Fouad
هذه القفزات القياسية في الأسعار امتدت بالطبع الى بلاد العرب، وكان وما زال وقعها أشد أثراً على العرب الذين من بين عدد سكانهم البالغ 300 مليون نسمة هناك أكثر من 76 مليون فقير، ، وحول هذا الموضوع كان لنا هذا التحقيق . These jumps in the price indices of course extended to Arab countries, and was still signed the most impact on the Arabs who out of a population of 300 million people there are more than 76 million poor, and on this subject we had this investigation.
فليس عجباً أنه في بعض الدول تتغير أسعار السلع بشكل يومي تقريباً يضع البائعون الأسعار اليوم ثم يغيرونها في اليوم التالي ليعكسوا التغير في القوة الشرائية للنقود التي تتناقص بشكل يومي. It screamed that in some commodity prices are changing almost daily puts sellers price today then changed the next day to reflect changes in the purchasing power of money by decreasing daily.
التضخم والعنوسة Inflation and spinsterhood
لقد طالت التداعيات التي يحدثها ارتفاع أسعار السلع والخدمات في الأسواق العالمية ، قيمة نفقات تجهيز مسكن الزوجية والمهور التي يدفعها الشباب الراغبون في الزواج، بعد أن عمدت بعض الأسر إلى رفع قيمة المهر نتيجة لارتفاع أسعار الذهب ومعظم السلع والمستلزمات التي تسبق حفلات الزفاف. We have long repercussions caused by rising prices for goods and services in world markets, the value of the expenses of processing the marital residence and the dowry paid by young people wishing to marry, having had some families to raise the value of the dowry a result of rising gold prices and most goods and supplies that precede weddings.
وهنا تؤكد التقارير الاقتصادية أن السعودية على سبيل المثال قد تأثرت بالتضخم العالمي والمحلي، إذ شهدت فئة النفقات والخدمات الأخرى، التي تشمل أسعار المجوهرات والفنادق، تضخما بنسبة 7.7 في المائة في عام 2006، وواصلت الزيادة في عام 2007 إلى جانب أن تراجع الريال مقابل عملات العديد من شركاء الاستيراد الرئيسيين له أيضا التأثير ذاته، وذلك عبر زيادة تكاليف الاستيراد'.، وهكذا تعد مشكلة ارتفاع أسعار تجهيز البيت واحدة من المشكلات القديمة التي تشكل هماً اجتماعياً في أوساط المجتمعات العربية ، وتسببت في إحداث مشكلات اجتماعية أخرى منها، العنوسة، وانحراف الشباب. Here stresses economic reports that Saudi Arabia, for example, inflation had been affected by global and local levels, as witnessed category of expenditure and other services, which include hotels and jewelry prices, inflation rate of 7.7 per cent in 2006 and continued to increase in 2007 along with the retreat of the riyal against the currencies of many Import key partners also have the same impact, through increased import costs. ', And so is the problem of rising house prices processing one of the old problems that constitute the social circles in Arab societies, and caused the events of other social problems including, spinsterhood, and juvenile delinquency.
وفي ظل ارتفاع نسبة البطالة وزيادة معدل التضخم واجر يقل عن 50 دولارا (285 جنيها مصريا) في الشهر نجد في دولة مثل مصر على سبيل المثال يلجأ كثير من الفقراء المقبلين على الزواج لاستئجار الخواتم والاساور الذهبية في حفلات الزفاف. In light of the high unemployment rate and increase the rate of inflation and pay less than $ 50 (285 Egyptian pounds) per month, we find in a country like Egypt, for example, used many of the poor next to marry for the rental of the rings, gold bracelets in weddings.
طماطم بـ 300 مليون دولار سنوياً ! Tomatoes b 300 million dollars annually!
يستورد العالم العربي أكثر من 90 % من حاجاته من الأغذية والمواد الأساسية من الخارج، على رغم غناه بمصادر المياه السطحية فعشرات الأنهار تخترق أراضيه ومنها نهر النيل أطول نهر في العالم ونهرا دجلة والفرات وغيرها كثير، كما يمتلك العالم العربي مخزوناً ضخماً من المياه الجوفية وتسقط على أراضيه كميات وافرة من الأمطار كما يمتلك العالم العربي ملايين الهكتارات من الأراضي الزراعية العالية الخصوبة. Imports the Arab world more than 90% of its needs of food and basic materials from abroad, despite the rich sources of surface water Tens rivers penetrate its territory, including the Nile River longest river in the world and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and many others, as the Arab world possesses a huge reservoir of underground water and falling on Territorial ample amounts of rain also owns the Arab world millions of hectares of agricultural land of high fertility. لكن هذا الوطن العربي الذي بإمكانه أن يكون سلة غذاء متكاملة آلى على نفسه ركوب صهوة الكسل والركون إلى الراحة والاستيراد حتى ان ما يستورده من الطماطم وحدها سنوياً تتجاوز كلفته 300 مليون دولار! But this Arab nation which can be integrated into the basket of food on the same ride, advocate laziness and unreliable to rest, so that the import of items imported tomatoes alone annually, costing more than $ 300 million!
في السعودية In Saudi Arabia
وصل التضخم في السعودية إلى أعلى مستوياته في 27 عاما، حيث وصل إلى 8.7% في فبراير، حسب ما ورد في بيان لإدارة الاحصائيات المركزية. Inflation arrived in Saudi Arabia to its highest level in 27 years, hitting 8.7% in February, according to the statement by the Central Statistics Department.
ويعتبر رقم فبراير أعلى بقرابة 25% عن معدل التضخم في يناير بنسبة 7%. The No. February nearly 25% higher than the rate of inflation in January rose by 7%. وحتى على الرغم من تمتع دول الخليج العربي بطفرة اقتصادية بفضل الارتفاع الكبير في أسعار النفط، إلا أن التضخم أصبح يشكل أحد اكبر التحديات أمام هذه الدول. Even though the enjoyment of the Arab Gulf states pronounced economic thanks to the considerable rise in oil prices, but inflation has become one of the biggest challenges for these countries. علاوة على أن أغلب الدول الخليجية تربط عملاتها بالدولار الأمريكي، الذي يواصل التراجع في قيمته، مما جعل من الأكثر كلفة في هذه المنطقة ثقيلة الواردات استيراد البضائع من أوروبا وآسيا. Moreover, most Gulf states link their currencies to the U.S. dollar, which continues to decline in value, making it the most expensive in this region of heavy imports import goods from Europe and Asia.
وفي الوقت نفسه فإن هذا الارتباط يحرم البنوك المركزية من أداة أساسية لمحاربة التضخم، ألا وهي معدلات الفائدة الأعلى. At the same time, this association of central banks denied an essential tool for fighting inflation, namely higher interest rates. بل اضطرت الاقتصادات الخليجية إلى اتباع تخفيضات معدل الفائدة الأمريكية للحفاظ على ارتباطاتها. Gulf economies, but was forced to follow U.S. interest rate cuts to maintain close relations. ويشار إلى أن المملكة العربية السعوية والإمارات وقطر ودولا خليجية أخرى تفكر في فك ارتباط عملاتها بالدولار الأمريكي. It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia seeking Emirates, Qatar and other Gulf states contemplating disengagement U.S. dollar.
فقد زادت الايجارات في فبراير بنسبة 18% بينما قفزت تكلفة الغذاء والمشروبات بنسبة 13%، ويؤكد الاقتصاديون أن ارتباط السعودية بالدولار هو المسؤول عن زيادة بمقدار 35% من إجمالي التضخم. Rents have increased in February by 18% while the cost of food, jumped by 13%, beverages, and economists emphasize that the dollar link Saudi Arabia is responsible for an increase of 35% of the total inflation. ويقول الاقتصاديون في السعودية والإمارات إن معدلات التضخم قد ترتفع أكثر مع زيادة الحكومة للإنفاق الداخلي واستمرار المملكة في ربط عملتها بالدولار الأمريكي الضعيف. He says economists in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that inflation might rise more with increased government spending and the continued internal Kingdom in the currency's peg to the weak U.S. dollar.
ومن المتوقع أن يرتفع التضخم في السعودية إلى 5.2% في عام 2008 مقارنة بحوالي 4.1% في يناير، بيد ان هذه الأرقام من غير المرجح أن تسفر عن إعادة تقييم للعملة السعودية أو فك الارتباط بينها وبين الدولار. It is expected that inflation in Saudi Arabia rises to 5.2% in 2008 compared with about 4.1% in January, however, that these figures are unlikely to result from the revaluation of the currency Saudi Arabia or disengagement between them and the dollar.
في الإمارات UAE
تشير أحدث المؤشرات الاقتصادية لدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة إلى أن التضخم سيستمر بلا هوادة وأن على واضعي السياسات تبني نهجاً ناجحاً رغم الظروف لمكافحة ظاهرة ارتفاع الأسعار. The latest economic indicators to the United Arab Emirates that inflation will continue unabated and that the policy makers build a successful despite the circumstances to combat the phenomenon of rising prices. وعلى الرغم من كثرة الحديث حول إعادة تقييم الدرهم، إلا أنه غير المرجح أن يكون له تأثير كبير على مجمل مستويات التضخم. In spite of the many talk about revaluation of dirham, but it is unlikely to have a significant impact on overall levels of inflation.
ويشار الى أن العمال قاموا باعمال شغب مؤخراً في دولة الامارات العربية المتحدة، احتجاجاً منهم على تدني الأجور وتراجع القوة الشرائية. It should be noted that workers who rioted recently in the United Arab Emirates, whom protest low wages and decline in purchasing power. كذلك فقد أجبرت الطوابير أمام أفران رغيف العيش المدعوم في مصر الحكومة المصرية على زيادة الانتاج، وهو ما يشكل ضغطا إضافيا على مواردها المالية. Further queues have been forced to live in subsidized bread ovens in Egypt, the Egyptian government to increase production, which constitutes an additional strain on financial resources.
في مصر IN EGYPT
وفي مصر تعتبر مواجهة مشكلة ارتفاع كلفة المعيشة مسألة لها أولوية قصوى مع وصول معدل التضخم السنوي إلى 12.5 بالمئة في فبراير في مصر التي يبلغ عدد سكانها 78 مليون نسمة وهي أكبر الدول العربية من حيث عدد السكان. In the face of Egypt is the problem of the high cost of living matter of high priority with the arrival of the annual inflation rate to 12.5 percent in February in Egypt, which has a population of 78 million inhabitants, the biggest Arab countries in terms of population.
ويقول أحمد النجار الخبير الاقتصادي في مركز الأهرام للدراسات السياسية والاستراتيجية إن ارتفاع أسعار الحديد والأسمنت لأكثر من 50 بالمائة خلال السنوات الأخيرة دقت أيضا ناقوس الخطر بالنسبة للحكومة. He says Ahmad Najjar, an economist at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, that the high prices of iron and cement for more than 50 percent in recent years also acknowledge the alarm for the Government.
بينما يقول سايمون كيتشن كبير الاقتصاديين لدى بنك الاستثمار المجموعة المالية- هيرميس في القاهرة إن 'ارتفاع التضخم يجعل خفض الدعم أكثر خطورة من الناحية السياسية لكن ارتفاع الأسعار العالمية يجعله ضروريا أكثر من أي وقت مضى من الناحية المالية.' While Simon Kitchen says senior economist with the Investment Bank Financial Group - Hermes in Cairo that 'high inflation makes the reduction of support is more dangerous in political terms but higher world prices makes it more necessary than ever in financial terms'.
ورصدت مصر 80 مليار جنيه (14.6 مليار دولار) للدعم في ميزانية السنة المالية التي تنتهي في يونيو 2008 أي حوالي تسعة بالمائة من الناتج المحلي الإجمالي المتوقع للبلاد. Egypt and made 80 billion pounds (14.6 billion dollars) to support the budget for the fiscal year ending in June 2008 or about nine percent of projected GDP of the country. وقد يصرف الدعم الذي يوجه معظمه إلى منتجات الطاقة مثل البنزين والديزل الحكومة عن هدفها لخفض عجز الميزانية إلى ثلاثة في المائة من الناتج المحلي بحلول 2010-2011. Having spent draws support mostly to energy products such as gasoline and diesel from the government aimed to reduce the budget deficit to three per cent of GDP by 2010-2011.
لكن خفض الدعم سيثير غضب المصريين البسطاء الذين يقول الكثيرون منهم إنهم لم يستفيدوا من نمو الاقتصاد. But the support will reduce the anger of ordinary Egyptians who says many of whom they have not benefited from economic growth.
وقال ريتشارد فوكس المحلل لدى فيتش للتصنيفات الائتمانية 'بالنظر إلى التكلفة الإجمالية لدعم الطاقة في الميزانية فإن إلغاءه تدريجيا مكون أساسي لسياسة الانضباط المالي في مصر .. He said Richard Fox, an analyst with Fitch credit to recreate 'view of the overall cost of energy to support the budget in the gradual phasing out of an essential component of the policy of financial discipline in Egypt .. من الواضح أن الأمر سيكون أكثر صعوبة إذا كان التضخم مرتفعا.' It is clear that the matter will be more difficult if inflation is high. '
وبهذا لقد أخفق نمو الاقتصاد المصري في تعزيز شعبية الحكومة ومن شأن استمرار ارتفاع التضخم أن يسمم أجواء تحرير الاقتصاد. With this growth has failed in promoting the Egyptian economy, a popular government would continued high inflation poison the atmosphere of liberalization. فقد لجأ آلاف العمال إلى الإضراب عن العمل على مدى العام المنصرم مطالبين غالبا بزيادة الأجور ومحتجين في بعض الأحيان على احتمال فقدان وظائف من جراء الخصخصة. For the thousands of workers to strike work over the past year, often demanding increased wages and protesters sometimes at the risk of losing jobs as a result of privatization.
وقد أدت هذه الزيادة إلى ارتفاع أسعار العقارات في مصر حيث احتل الاستثمار العقاري الأجنبي بها المركز الثالث بـ 11.1 مليار دولار. This increase has led to high real estate prices in Egypt where he occupied the foreign real estate investment by third-place b 11.1 billion dollars.
في قطر In Qatar
بيد أنه تعاني قطر أكثر من غيرها هذه الظاهرة وذلك على خلفية النمو المتميز لاقتصادها (حسب مجموعة الإيكونومست البريطانية حقق الناتج المحلي الإجمالي القطري نسبة نمو حقيقية قدرها 7.8 في المائة في العام الماضي وذلك بعد خصم عامل التضخم). Qatar, however, suffer more than others this phenomenon and that against the backdrop of remarkable growth of its economy (as the British Economist Group achieved a GDP growth rate of real country of 7.8 per cent last year, after deducting inflation factor).
كما قد جاء في تقرير لصندوق النقد الدولي أن الاقتصاد القطري عانى نسبة تضخم بلغت 14 في المائة في عام 2007. It may also stated in the report of the International Monetary Fund that the economy has suffered country inflation rate amounted to 14 per cent in 2007.
التضخم عالمياً Inflation globally
زيمبابوي إحدى الدول التي تعاني حالياً أعلى معدلات التضخم في العالم والذي قارب الـ 100 في المائة، ما حدا بالبعض إلى القول إن استخدام النقود الورقية في التجفيف أرخص من شراء ورق التجفيف نفسه. Zimbabwe one of the countries that are suffering the highest inflation rates in the world by boat and the 100 per cent, which led some to say that the use of banknotes in drying cheaper than buying paper drying himself.
لكن تاريخياً يقول فهد إبراهيم الثشيري الكاتب بصحيفة الاقتصادية السعودية قال إن معدل التضخم الذي شهدته ألمانيا عام 1923 يعد أعلى معدلات التضخم العالمية. But historically Fahd says writer Ibrahim Ihiri Saudi economic newspaper said that the inflation rate experienced by Germany in 1923 is higher global inflation rates. وحينها كانت الأسعار ترتفع بأربعة أضعاف كل شهر وتخيل النتائج المترتبة على ذلك. Then the price rises four times each month, imagine the consequences. فقد تعلمت ألمانيا من الدرس الذي شهدته قبل 80 عاماً لتضع سياسة مشددة تستهدف معدل تضخم أعلى لكي لا يتكرر السيناريو مرة أخرى. Germany has learned a lesson that we witnessed 80 years ago to establish strict policy of targeting inflation rate higher in order to avoid the scenario again.
دول أخرى تنضم إلى قائمة الأرقام القياسية لمعدلات التضخم منها العراق والتي تجاوز معدل التضخم فيها 60 في المائة، وقويانا والتي قارب معدل التضخم فيها 30 في المائة. Other countries join the list of indexes for inflation, including Iraq, which exceeded the inflation rate in 60 per cent, strong and the inflation rate in nearly 30 per cent. من الدول العربية التي سجلت معدلات قياسية للتضخم كل من ليبيا واليمن واللتين تبوأتا المرتبة العاشرة والـ 11 بين قائمة أعلى معدلات التضخم في العالم بمعدل يقارب 15 في المائة. Arab countries which recorded a record rates of inflation each from Libya, Yemen, which ranks tenth Labuan between 11 and the list of the highest rates in the world inflation rate of nearly 15 per cent.
لكن ماذا ينتج عن معدلات التضخم العالية" " Hyperinflation تلك؟ But what can result from high rates of inflation "" Hyperinflation that?
تصور أنك ترى نقودك تتناقص قيمتها كل يوم أمامك، ما التصرف الحكيم الذي ستقدم عليه؟ Imagine that you believed Ncodk declining value of each day to you, what would be wise to act on it? طبعاً صرفها وشراء سلع وتخزينها لكي لا تتناقص قيمتها، وهذا ما يحدث فعلاً في الدول التي تعاني معدلات التضخم العالية. Of course, disbursement and procurement of goods and storage so as not to diminish the value, and this is what actually happens in the States that are experiencing high rates of inflation.
فالعمال يجرون للأسواق لصرف ما يكسبونه من أجور لشراء السلع خشية أن تتناقص قيمتها في اليوم التالي، وهذا يؤدي إلى مضاعفة المشكلة، إذ يؤدي ذلك إلى زيادة إضافية في الطلب على السلع، ليس من أجل استهلاكها، ولكن من أجل استخدامها كمخزن للقيمة. Workers conducting market to distract from what they earn wages to buy goods for fear of diminishing the value of the next day, and this leads to double the problem, as they lead to a further increase in demand for goods, rather than for consumption, but to use the repository of value.
المستثمرون أيضاً يتضررون من التضخم العالي المعدل، إذ لن يكون في إمكانهم تقدير تكاليف الاستثمار وحساب معدل الأرباح المتوقع، ما سيؤدي إلى إحجامهم عن الاستثمار.هذا بدوره سيؤدي إلى نقص في الإنتاج ومن ثم نقص في المعروض من السلع، ما سيفاقم من مشكلة التضخم. Investors also affected by higher inflation rate, it will not be able to estimate the cost of investment and calculating the rate of profits expected, will lead to refrain from investing. This in turn will lead to a shortage in production and thus a shortage of supply of goods, what will exacerbate the problem of inflation.
والتعريف الشائع للتضخم هو الارتفاع في المعدل العام للأسعار، لكن هذا لا يعد تعريفاً دقيقاً للتضخم، وإنما ارتفاع الأسعار هو إحدى نتائج التضخم. The common definition of inflation is the rise in overall prices, but this is not a precise definition of inflation, but rising prices is one of the results of inflation. والتعريف الدقيق للتضخم هو انخفاض القوة الشرائية للنقود، والتي تنتج عن الزيادة من المعروض النقدي. The precise definition of inflation is low purchasing power of money, and the resulting increase of monetary supply. أي أن الدول بسعيها لطباعة المزيد من النقود الورقية تفرض بشكل غير مباشر ضريبة خفية على المواطنين تتمثل في انخفاض قيمة أجورهم ودخولهم الحقيقية. This means that the state seeks to print more banknotes are indirectly impose a hidden tax on citizens is the decline in the value of real wages and incomes.
تيم ماهون أحد المتخصصين في موضوع التضخم يشبه عملية طبع النقود بقيام شخص بكتابة شيك دون رصيد يعاقب عليها القانون بالسجن والغرامة وما إلى ذلك من الجزاءات. Tim Mahon A specialist on the subject of inflation similar to the process of printing money for a person to write a check without balance punishable by imprisonment and fines and other sanctions. لكن الأمر يختلف عندما تقوم البنوك المركزية بنفسها بكتابة شيكات دون رصيد تتمثل في النقود التي تقوم بطباعتها بشكل يومي. But it's different when the central banks themselves to write checks without money in the stock is printed based on a daily basis. لكن هل يعني ذلك أن الدول التي تتحكم بشكل في المعروض النقدي قد لا تعاني التضخم؟ But does this mean that countries that control the monetary supply has not had to suffer inflation? الإجابة على ذلك نعم بشرط ألا تعاني اختلالات توازنية في المعروض والمطلوب من السلع، والذي هو الآخر يعد أحد الأسباب الرئيسة للتضخم. Answer is yes, provided that they do not suffer disruptions in the supply and balances required of goods, which is also one of the main reasons for inflation.
هل التضخم دائما ظاهرة غير صحية؟ Is inflation always unhealthy phenomenon?
يجب التنويه في البداية ان التضخم ليس ظاهرة سلبية بالمطلق خاصة ان كان بنسب منخفضة ولم يكن لاسباب نقدية اي نتيجة الزيادة في عرض النقود اصدار كمية من النقد يفوق النمو الحقيقي للاقتصاد اذ يدل احيانا على ان الاقتصاد ينمو بمعدلات عالية كما يمكن ان يدل على انخفاض معدل البطالة لذلك يجب ألا نفترض ان معدلات التضخم المنخفضة اكثر من اللازم والقريبة من الصفر تدل على صحة الاقتصاد حيث ان اقتراب معدلات التضخم من الصفر يزيد من احتمالات دخول الاقتصاد في حالة انكماش وذلك بالتأثير السلبي على الانتاجية ومن ثم رفع معدل البطالة ودخول الاقتصاد في حالة انكماش سرعان ما تتحول الى ركود لذا يجب على راسمي السياسة الاقتصادية محاولة التوفيق بين عدة عوامل مختلفة ومؤشرات متعددة معدل التضخم ومستويات البطالة والانتاجية والاستهلاك والتنافسية وابقائها في نطاق يسهل السيطرة عليه وذلك حسب الظروف الاقتصادية المتغيرة باستمرار. Must be noted at the outset that inflation is not a negative phenomenon that was absolutely special low rates for reasons not any cash due to the increase in money supply issuing a quantity of cash than the real growth of the economy as it sometimes shows that the economy is growing at high rates could also indicate a decline in unemployment rate Therefore, we must not assume that inflation is too low and close to zero indicates that the health of the economy where inflation rates approaching zero increases the likelihood of entering the economy in recession and the negative impact on productivity and thus raise the rate of unemployment and the entry of the economy in recession soon Turn into a recession must therefore economic policy makers trying to reconcile several different factors and multiple indicators of inflation and unemployment levels and productivity, consumption and competitive and keeping them within easy to control, according to the constantly changing economic conditions.
الحلول Solutions
قدم بعض من تحدث في ندوة (ظاهرة ارتفاع الأسعار في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي) والتي عقدت في العاصمة البحرينية المنامة في الأسبوع الماضي أفكارا لافتة لمواجهة معضلة التضخم في اقتصادات المنطقة. Some of speaking at a symposium (the phenomenon of rising prices in the Gulf Cooperation Council states), which was held in the Bahraini capital Manama last week a banner ideas to confront the dilemma of inflation in the economies of the region.
ركز المنتدون على نقطة جوهرية وهي مناقشة السبل الكفيلة لوقف زحف الغلاء والذي بات يأكل الأخضر واليابس مشكلا تهديدا للطفرة الاقتصادية المتميزة التي تعيشها دول مجلس التعاون وخصوصا المستوى المعيشي للمواطنين والمقيمين على حد سواء والقدرة التنافسية للمؤسسات التجارية. Forum focuses on the essential point is to discuss ways to stop the advance of price rises, which now eats green and the ground constituted a threat to the economic boom that has afflicted the distinct Cooperation Council states, especially the standard of living for citizens and residents alike and competitiveness of enterprises.
ولفت نظري ما قاله كبير الاقتصاديين في بيت التمويل الخليجي الدكتورعلاء اليوسف أن المطلوب من دول المجلس تحديد أهداف معينة للسياسات المالية والتحويلات الرسمية للبرامج الاجتماعية والمصروفات الرأسمالية فضلا عن إفساح المجال أمام مؤسسات القطاع الخاص لإقامة مشاريع البنية التحتية. He said theoretical Chief Economist in the Gulf Finance House Acanutorala Youssef required from the GCC countries to identify specific targets for the financial policies and official transfers for social programmes and capital expenditure as well as pave the way for private enterprises to set up infrastructure projects.
وعلى هذا الأساس، المطلوب من الجهات الرسمية تحديد أهداف السياسات المالية فيما يخص دخل الخزانة العامة من قبيل فرض أو تقليل الرسوم المفروضة على الخدمات الحكومية وذلك استنادا للبرامج المزمع تنفيذها. On this basis, the required official identification of policy objectives with respect to the financial income of the public treasury, such as the imposition or reduce fees for government services on the basis of programmes to be implemented.
خفض الدعم سيثير غضب المصريين Support will reduce the anger of Egyptians
بمعنى آخر، ربما يكون من المناسب تقليل مستويات الرسوم المفروضة على الخدمات الحكومية إذا لم تكن الحاجة ماسة آخذين في عين الاعتبار ارتفاع الدخل النفطي. In other words, it may be appropriate to reduce the levels of fees for government services if the need were not taking into account the rise in oil income. ولا بد من الإشادة في هذا الصدد بقرار السعودية والذي اتخذ في وقت لاحق من العام الجاري بتخفيض الرسوم المفروضة على بعض الخدمات الحكومية لمدة ثلاث سنوات. Tribute must be paid in this regard the decision of Saudi Arabia, which was adopted later in the current year reduction in taxes imposed on certain government services for three years.
كما أن من شأن تعزيز دور القطاع الخاص تقليص الدور المعهود للقطاع العام وبالتالي الحد من مزاحمة المؤسسات الرسمية في الحياة الاقتصادية. It would strengthen the role of the private sector to reduce the role entrusted by the public sector and thereby reducing competition official institutions in economic life.
الأمر المؤكد هو أن أحد أسباب التضخم في الآونة الأخيرة إنما يعود إلى تسريع وتيرة المصروفات الحكومية على مشاريع البنية التحتية. What is certain is that one of the causes of inflation in recent times was due to accelerate the pace of government expenditure on infrastructure projects. وبات صرف المزيد ممكنا نظرا لارتفاع إيرادات الخزانة العامة وذلك على خلفية ارتفاع الأسعار وبقائها مرتفعة في السنوات القليلة الماضية. The exchange has become more feasible because of the high income public treasury and that against the backdrop of rising prices to remain high in the past few years.
فمن المناسب أن تقوم مؤسسات القطاع الخاص بتشييد وتشغيل محطات الكهرباء والماء لأنها تفكر في الربحية وبالتالي العمل بأقل تكلفة ممكنة. It is appropriate that private sector institutions to construct and operate power plants and water because they think of profitability and, therefore, to work the lowest possible cost.
عدم فك الارتباط بالدولار Non disengagement dollar
في المقابل، رأى الدكتور اليوسف أن فك ارتباط عملات دول المجلس بالدولار الأمريكي (باستثناء الكويت والتي تربط عملتها بسلة من العملات الدولية) سيكون له تأثير محدود في أحسن الأحوال على تخفيض مستويات التضخم. In contrast, Dr. Youssef's disengagement currencies to the U.S. dollar States (except Kuwait and linking its currency basket of international currencies) will have a limited impact at best on reducing levels of inflation. ويعود الأمر بالضرورة إلى ارتباط ظاهرة الغلاء بعدة أسباب منها النمو الاقتصادي العالمي وارتفاع أسعار المواد الأولية بما في ذلك المشتقات النفطية. It is up to necessarily link the phenomenon occurred several reasons including the global economic growth and rising prices for raw materials, including the oil derivatives. وخير دليل على ذلك هو انتشار مشكلة التضخم في مختلف دول العالم بما فيها الاقتصادات التي لا تربط عملتها الوطنية بالدولار ومنها دول الاتحاد الأوروبي فضلا عن اليابان. The best proof of this is the widespread problem of inflation in various countries around the world including the economies that are not linking the national currency is the dollar, including the European Union countries as well as Japan.
تطوع لمراقبة الأسعار Volunteered for price control
ومن بين الأفكار الأخرى الجديرة بالاهتمام هي دراسة التجربة الماليزية في تشجيع المواطنين بمراقبة الأسعار وإخطار الجهات الرسمية عن التجاوزات. Among other ideas noteworthy study the Malaysian experiment in encouraging citizens control prices and the dangers of official abuses. فقد ذكر الدكتور محمد إقبال أن بلاده قامت قبل فترة بالترتيب لعمل تطوعي من قبل 14 ألف مواطن لمراقبة الأسعار في المحال التجارية بهدف تشجيع المؤسسات التجارية بالابتعاد عن كل ما شأنه تعريض سمعتها للتشويه. He stated Dr. Muhammad Iqbal said his country had before arranging to volunteer work by 14 thousand citizens to control prices in the shops aimed at encouraging businesses to stay away from everything that would endanger the reputation of the female. ويقوم هؤلاء المتطوعون بتوفير المعلومات لوسائل الإعلام ما يفسح المجال أمام التعرض لسمعة ومكانة المحال التجارية المتهمة. These volunteers and providing information to the media that leaves room for exposure to the reputation and standing accused of shops.
كما ظهرت بعض المقترحات الأخرى مثل الشراء الموحد من دول المجلس لغرض الحصول على أكثر الأسعار التنافسية. It also emerged some other proposals such as the purchase of the Common Council for the purpose of obtaining more competitive prices. لكن يعيب هذا المقترح صعوبة تنفيذه حيث يتطلب الأمر تنسيقا دائما وعلى كل المستويات. But the disadvantage of this proposal difficult to implement since it requires coordinated always and at all levels. مهما يكن من أمر، تتطلب معالجة معضلة الغلاء إقامة المزيد من الفعاليات في دول مجلس التعاون لغرض بلورة أفكار ومقترحات جديدة للوقوف أمام أكبر تحد للرفاهية الاقتصادية. Whatever the case, requiring the administration to address the dilemma of price rises more events in the Gulf Cooperation Council states for the purpose of developing new ideas and proposals to stand in front of the greatest challenge to economic prosperity.
Oil prices will revive profits Swiss banks
. Geneva: "When calamities folk folk benefits", this was the case for San Swiss banks while scorched States Almstheclh from high energy bill because of the registration record levels and oil prices exceeded the level of $ 120 a barrel, Swiss banks have huge profits by those altitudes.
وأوضح مدير رابطة البنوك السويسرية بيار ميرابو أن ارتفاع أسعار النفط عاد بالنفع على البنوك السويسرية لأن مثل هذه الزيادة خلقت عملاء جدد في البنوك بسبب ارتفاع الايرادات في الدول المصدرة للنفط. The head of the Association of Swiss banks Pierre Merapi that high oil prices benefited the Swiss banks because such an increase has created new customers in banks due to higher revenues of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
وأشار ميرابو في مؤتمر صحافي مشترك عقد مع رابطة الصحافة الأجنبية في سويسرا أن ارتفاع أسعار سلع اخرى غير النفط الخام ادى كذلك إلى جلب أعداد كبيرة من العملاء إلى البنوك السويسرية. The Merapi at a joint press conference held with the Foreign Press Association in Switzerland that the high prices of commodities other than crude oil also led to attract large numbers of customers to Swiss banks.
وأضاف "أن عملة اليورو تعد بديلا للدولار ولكنها لا تحل مكانه" كما اعرب عن اعتقاده بأن السوق العالمية لديها متسع لاستيعاب عملات اخرى. He added: "The euro is an alternative to the dollar but did not resolve the status" He also expressed his belief that the global market has room to accommodate other currencies.
هذا وقد قفز سعر النفط الخام في بورصة نيويورك اليوم لمستوى قياسي متجاوزا الـ120 دولارا في ظل قلق الأسواق من إمكانية تأثر المعروض بسبب حالات توقف بعض مواقع الإنتاج بنيجيريا وبالتزامن مع تأكيد إيران مجددا التمسك بمواصلة برنامجها النووي، حيث سجل سعر النفط الخام الأمريكي الخفيف 120.54 دولار للبرميل في أسواق نيويورك. This has jumped the price of crude oil on the New York Stock Exchange today, surpassing the record level of $ 120 under the concern of the markets affected by the possibility of supply interruptions because of some production sites in Nigeria and in conjunction with the confirmation of Iran reiterates adherence to continuing its nuclear program, where record oil price of U.S. light crude 120.54 dollars per barrel In the markets of New York.
من جانبه حقق سعر برميل النفط الخام رقما قياسيا جديدا أيضا في سوق لندن للنفط اذ تخطى حاجز 119 دولار للبرميل للمرة الأولى في حين بلغ سعر النفط الخام لبحر الشمال "برنت" 119.03 دولار للبرميل. For his part, achieved a price of a barrel of crude oil also set a new record in the London market for oil since crossing 119 dollars per barrel for the first time, while the price of crude oil to the North Sea "Brent" 119.03 dollars per barrel.
وعزا محللون كما أشارت وكالة الأنباء الكويتية "كونا" ارتفاع اسعار النفط إلى مخاوف من احتمال انقطاع الامدادات في نيجيريا وشمال العراق إضافة إلى تراجع مخاوفهم بشأن الاقتصاد الأمريكي متوقعين ان يمتص ارتفاع أسعار النفط أي انتعاش في الاقتصاد البريطاني والاقتصادات الاخرى في العالم. Analysts also attributed the Kuwaiti News Agency "KUNA" high oil prices to fears about possible disruptions in Nigeria and northern Iraq in addition to the retreat on fears the U.S. economy absorbs the expectation that higher oil prices any recovery in the British economy and other economies in the world.
يذكر أن اسعار النفط واصلت تحطيم الاسعار القياسية منذ تخطي اسعاره حاجز المئة دولار للمرة الاولى في عام 2008. It is noteworthy that oil prices continued to break the standard price since oil prices exceeded $ percent barrier for the first time in 2008.
وهبط انتاج شركة (شل الهولندية الملكية) في نيجيريا بنحو 164 الف برميل في اليوم بعد تعرض خطوط انابيب النفط الى سلسلة من الهجمات من قبل مجموعات مسلحة. The production company declined (Royal Dutch Shell) in Nigeria by about 164 thousand barrels per day oil pipelines subjected to a series of attacks by armed groups.
من جانب اخر يتعرض اقليم كردستان العراق الى هجمات عسكرية من قبل الجيش التركي تستهدف حزب العمال الكردستاني المحظور الذي يتخذ من الجبال الوعرة في تلك المناطق منطلقا للهجمات التي يشنها ضد اهداف تركية. The other is the Kurdistan region of Iraq to military attacks by the Turkish army targeting the PKK, which is prohibited by rugged mountains in those areas springboard for attacks launched against Turkish targets.
وعلى صعيد اخر فان التفاؤل بشأن انتعاش الاقتصاد الامريكي عزز اسعار النفط في اسواق التداول في الاسواق الاسيوية اذ اظهر التقرير الاقتصادي الامريكي ان قطاع الخدمات يوحي ببطء اقتصادي ولكن ليس بالقوة التي تم توقعها في البداية. On another front, the optimism about the recovery of U.S. economy strengthened in oil prices in the markets trading in the markets since the Asian economic report showed the U.S. services sector suggests that slow economic but not by force that had been anticipated at the outset.
Oil fly to new record levels
نيويورك: سجلت أسعار النفط الخام رقماً قياسياً جديدا لليوم الثاني على التوالي، حيث اقتربت من حاجز الـ 121 دولار للبرميل. New York: Crude oil prices recorded a new world record for the second consecutive day, where close to the barrier of 121 dollars per barrel.
وارتفعت عقود شهر يونيو الآجلة بمقدار 96 سنتاً لتصل الى 120.93 دولار للبرميل وهو ما يعد أعلى سعر منذ بداية التجارة في بورصة نيويورك للبترول عام 1983. Rose futures contracts for the month of June increased by 96 cents to hit 120.93 dollars per barrel which is the highest price since the beginning of trade in the New York Stock Exchange Petroleum in 1983.
ونقلت شبكة بلومبرج الأخبارية عبر موقعها الالكتروني عن محللين توقعاتهم بأن تتراوح أسعار النفط ما بين 150 و 200 دولار للبرميل في غضون عامين بسبب العجز في الامداد الكافي. The network quoted Blomberg news via its website on analysts expectations that oil prices ranging between 150 and 200 dollars per barrel within two years because of the deficit in adequate supply.
وفي بورصة لندن للبترول سجلت أسعار عقود يونيو الاجلة لخام برنت أرقاما قياسية أيضاً حيث ارتفعت 1.08 دولار بنسبة 0.9 % لتصل إلى 119.07 دولار للبرميل. On the London Stock Exchange Oil prices recorded in June futures contracts for Brent crude reaches also rose 1.08 dollars or 0.9% to hit 119.07 dollars per barrel.
وتأتي المستويات القياسية الجديدة لأسعار النفط مع تجاوز مستوى الـ 120 دولار وذلك في ظل قلق الأسواق من إمكانية تأثر المعروض بسبب حالات توقف بعض مواقع الإنتاج بنيجيريا وبالتزامن مع تأكيد إيران مجددا التمسك بمواصلة برنامجها النووي. The new record levels for oil prices exceeded the level with the 120 dollars and in light of concern to the market before because of the vulnerability of some cases stopped production sites in Nigeria and in conjunction with the confirmation of Iran reiterates adherence to continuing its nuclear program.
ويبرز الموقف الإيراني عودة العامل الجيوسياسي كورقة مؤثرة في اتجاهات أسعار النفط خاصة في حال تصاعد حدة التوتر من جديد بين واشنطن وطهران. And highlights the Iranian position on the return of influential group as a geopolitical trends in oil prices especially in the case of escalating tensions again between Washington and Tehran.
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The continuing decline in conversion rates encourage investors and owners of major banking offices on the conversion of more cash and purchase amounts deducted commissions from the conversion will make the conversion process outside the country and re-transfer to Iraq and selling in the market much more meaningful process of buying direct cash which is the difference between him and Remittances ten points.
uh-ohh Skinner: Now the truth emerged, there is evidence of Iranian weapons in Iraq
5-06-08
After conflicting information during his last two days about Iranian interference in the internal affairs Skinner: Now the truth emerged, there is evidence of Iranian weapons in Iraq
Summoned government spokesman Dr. Skinner on the number of journalists late Sunday night to clarify his remarks at a press conference held earlier in the day Sunday, when it seemed as if it indicates that there is no evidence that Iran is permitted to enter the arms to Iraq ".
Skinner said that "his remarks had been misunderstood." The government spokesman, at a meeting with journalists rank U.S. official, also reported the Washington Post in its edition of America yesterday, Monday, that "there is interference and proof that Iran interfered in Iraqi affairs, when asked about his assessment For evidence of the Iranians to allow entry of weapons into Iraq, Skinner added that "concrete evidence". The newspaper "for as long as the United States accused Iran providing bombs known as high-explosive bombs miraculous shields to militia elements, while Iran denies such a role. The newspaper reported that the government Iraq said it had "concrete evidence" that Iran irritation violence in Iraq, and that the Iraqi high-level committee formed to document evidence and sent to the Iranians. Commented the newspaper commented that "This statement came at a time when Iraqis found themselves on board between the United States and Iran, which will exchange accusations In spreading destruction in Iraq, especially that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a delicate situation because of its proximity to U.S. officials and Iranians. "
The newspaper quoted Skinner saying, "After the launch Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched last month in Basra, troops found weapons was clear that they are made in Iran." Skinner added, "Now the truth emerged; There is evidence of Iranian weapons in Iraq and we are closer for the purpose of sending Them. "He explained that" a high-level committee was formed three days ago and included officials from the ministries of Interior and Defense to document the intervention of Iran war on Iraq. "Skinner was announced in a press conference Sunday in Baghdad, the Government's support for the efforts made by the delegation from the United Iraqi Alliance bloc, who visited Iran to inform Tehran to the fears and anxiety felt by the Iraqi government of Iranian interference in the region.
On a related government source said that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked to form a committee to collect evidence on what he believes Baghdad "interference" in Iranian Iraq to be presented later on Tehran, which denies any interference in Iraqi affairs. The announcement of the formation of this committee, which Skinner announced by the government spokesman, after a day of the return of Iraqi Alliance delegation from Tehran. The delegation presented to Iranian officials as saying it was "evidence" on Iran's support for militias in Iraq, but the Iranians denied the existence of any interference, according to Skinner.
Skinner explained that al-Maliki ordered the formation of the Committee on its registration and documentation of Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs, and that the government would pursue the matter with the Iranians and put them the results of their work. At the same framework Iranian official announced on Sunday his country's support for the efforts of the Iraqi government to disarm the armed militias in Iraq but Without the use of force. The news agency quoted the student to the Iranian official, who did not announce his name, saying: "We support the efforts of the Iraqi government to disarm the armed militias, we advise you not to enter confrontation with the population. The Iranian official said that" Iran's official position is to support the legitimate government of Iraq Within this framework, we will do everything we can in order to establish security in the country.
http://translate.google.com/translat...-US:unofficial
Barham Saleh calls for the allocation of quota directly to every citizen of oil
أخبار و تقارير - 06/05/2008 - 1:53 pm News and reports - 06/05/2008 - 1:53 pm
الملف برس ــ وكالات Portfolio Press Agencies
طالب نائب رئيس الوزراء برهم صالح الى ضرورة ان يكون للمواطن العراقي حصة مالية من الواردات النفطية. Asked Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh to the necessity for the Iraqi citizen's share of financial oil imports. وقال صالح ان المواطن العراقي له الحق بان يتمتع بحصة مباشرة من واردات النفط . Saleh said that Iraqi citizen has the right to enjoy a direct share of oil imports. والدستور يكفل بان النفط هو ملك الشعب العراقي ، وهذا الامر مرهون بقانون النفط . The Constitution ensures that oil is the king of the Iraqi people, and this matter is subject to the law of oil. وتابع ان هناك تخصيصات كبيرة مثبتة بالموازنة منها دعم البطاقة التموينية بان تؤخذ من واردات النفط وتصرف على المواطن العراقي، فلماذا لا نعطيه حرية الاختيار بين ان يحصل على مبالغ مالية او يحصل على الخدمات من الغذاء او الخدمات الاخرى .واوضح صالح ان هناك افكارا مختلفة تطرح بخصوص هذا الموضوع غير ان هذه الافكار لم تصل الى مرحلة النضوج , واشار الى انه يوجد مشروع لاعادة وتشكيل مجلس الخدمة ، وهو مطلب دستوري وقانوني ، يجب ان ننفذه باسرع وقت لانه بدون اعادة تشكيل مجلس الخدمة على اسس جديدة تتناسب مع متطلبات المرحلة يبقى جهاز الدولة محملا بالمشاكل . He continued that there are large installed budget allocations, supporting the ration card that taken from the imports of oil and disposal of the Iraqi citizen, so why not give him the freedom to choose between to receive payments or obtain services from food or other services. Saleh explained that there are various ideas put forward regarding This issue is not that these ideas did not reach the stage of maturity, and noted that there is a project for reconstruction and the formation of the service, a demand constitutional and legal, must be implemented as soon as possible because without the restructuring of the service on new foundations stage commensurate with the requirements of the state apparatus remains blaming problems . و بخصوص القوانين الخدمية ذكر صالح ان الدولة لحد الان لم تستكمل بعد مراجعة مشاريع هذه القوانين والتي هي مسألة ملحة . And the laws regarding service Saleh said that the state so far has not yet completed reviewing drafts of these laws, which are a pressing issue.
المصدر : الملف برس - الكاتب: الملف برس Source: Press file - Author: Portfolio Press
National - Baghdad in talks with Kurds over oil contracts 1-May-08 [16:40]
Agencies-- Baghdad was in talks with the Iraqi Kurdish regional authorities last week on contracts signed by foreign oil companies in the territory, Iraq’s Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani told reporters last Monday.
“There has been a delegation led by the prime minister of the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] in Baghdad and we have started our discussions”, Shahristani said on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Rome. “We will continue those discussions after my return to Baghdad”, he added.
The contracts “have to meet the conditions of the hydrocarbons law of February 2007”, the minister insisted, referring to a new law aimed at encouraging foreign oil companies to invest in the Iraqi oil sector.
The government in Baghdad and authorities in the autonomous Kurdish region of Northern Iraq have been at loggerheads over contracts signed between the Kurds and foreign oil companies for months.
In November, Shahristani announced he had cancelled around 15 oil contracts signed by the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In response, Kurdish Prime Minister Neshirvan Barzani insisted the contracts would be honored, saying “nobody can cancel contracts signed by Kurdistan”, as his government approved the signature of seven more oil contracts.
The autonomous Kurdish regional government in Northern Iraq has signed 15 exploration and export contracts with 20 international companies since it passed its own oil law last August, irritating the Baghdad government.
Shahristani has repeatedly said he considers the contracts “illegal.”
He has threatened the companies concerned that they would not in future have the chance to work with the Iraqi government, threats that have so far have not been carried out.
Great read !! Playing Monopoly with Iraqi money
The biggest transfer of cash in history
by Loretta Napoleoni and Georgia Straight
Global Research, March 18, 2007
Znet
The biggest transfer of cash in history took place from May 2003 to June 2004 when the U.S. Federal Reserve of New York shipped $12 billion in bills of various denominations to war-torn Iraq. Over the course of one year, a fleet of C-130s carried, from New York to Baghdad, 484 pallets weighing a total of 363 tonnes and holding 281 million banknotes. This is not an advertisement for a new board game but the summary of a memorandum prepared for a meeting of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, which is examining the "reconstruction" of Iraq under Paul Bremer.
No proper record of the funds, which were distributed by the Coalition Provisional Authority, is available. They seem to have been disbursed like Monopoly money. Contractors were paid in cash from the back of pickup trucks; thousands of "ghost employees", people enlisted in ministerial jobs that did not exist, were paid salaries with bundles of currency; one million dollars was stolen from the CPA vault and nobody seemed to be bothered; $500 million was disbursed under the heading "TBD", which stands for "to be determined". An obscure consulting firm from San Diego was in charge of certifying the distribution of the money, yet it never conducted any review of internal controls, as was contractually required.
Bremer's financial adviser, retired admiral David Oliver, seems surprised by the House committee's concern, as if the billions that have vanished were really play money. When challenged by a BBC journalist about the consequences of the disappearance without trace of billions of dollars, he pointed out that it was irrelevant where the money had gone because it was Iraqi funds, not U.S. taxpayers' money. The $12 billion came from Iraqi assets seized after the first Gulf War, from the sale of Iraqi oil, and from surplus payments from the UN oil-for-food program. The $12 billion is not included in the $400 billion spent by the U.S. in Iraq since March 2003.
The procedure for unfreezing "political" money is generally very long and requires the fulfillment of several legal requirements. After a legal battle of more than a decade, waged by a group of Cuban exiles, then-president Bill Clinton finally released some of the Cuban funds frozen during Fidel Castro's 1950s revolution. Still locked in the vaults of the Federal Reserve is Iranian money seized after the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini ousted Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979, some of Gen. Manuel Noriega's dirty money, and even some assets belonging to the recently deceased Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Iraqi funds were miraculously freed in less than two months. The procedure was quick and involved the approval of the United Nations, which, technically, was responsible for the oil-for-food surpluses. Those monies could have been used to bring back water and electricity to millions of Iraqis; if equitably distributed, they would have made each Iraqi man, woman, and child $15,000 richer. Instead, they were wasted by incompetent officers appointed by even more incompetent politicians.
It is surreal to think that the U.S. government rushed to fly hundreds of tonnes of cash to a country where its army could not stop people looting arsenals, banks, museums, and hospitals, to a country not yet pacified. As Waxman put it: "Who in their right mind would send 363 tonnes of cash into a war zone?"
War is not a board game; it is deadly serious business. Even more surreal is the fact that no plan existed for what to do with so much money.
Bremer claims that the CPA urgently needed the cash because the banking system had disappeared and Iraq was a cash economy. Yet his administration was not equipped to operate in a cash economy, proven by the way it wasted those billions. War zones are always cash economies. Did Bremer really think that after President George W. Bush's famous "mission accomplished"
declaration, ATM machines in Baghdad would miraculously start working again?
Those monies were also needed to inject U.S. dollars into a country where the local currency, the Iraqi dinar, was about to collapse. This is the other explanation Bremer put forward. Most currencies collapse after major conflicts. In the aftermath of the Second World War, devaluation spread like a virus among European currencies and new money had to be introduced by the central banks.
Injecting cash for the sake of injecting cash does more harm than devaluation; it can be extremely dangerous because war economies are run by militias, criminal gangs, black marketeers, and profiteers. Cash flows naturally toward these people.
Oliver, the man who was supposed to advise Bremer on these issues, is as unmoved as his ex-boss by the thought that the money they so irresponsibly distributed may have funded ethnic militias, criminal gangs, and insurgent groups in addition to "contractors" engaged in the reconstruction. Their lack of concern springs from the belief that they are not responsible for such failure because they are American and the money was Iraqi—they feel accountable to the U.S. taxpayer, not to the Iraqi people. The fact that some of those funds may have funded ambushes in which U.S. soldiers could have been killed does not cross their minds. War is a highly deceptive game.
Though the money was Iraqi, there is evidence that the CPA was eager to spend all of it before the interim Iraqi government was appointed. The House committee minutes report that one officer was handed $6.75 million in cash and told to spend it in the week before the interim government took control of the Development Fund for Iraq, where the money should have been held.
The motives behind such behaviour are clear. The primary objective was not to kick-start the reconstruction of Iraq. If it had been, the U.S. would have appointed competent people to run the CPA and the $12 billion would have gone to fund a sort of Marshall Plan, in which each penny would have been accounted for.
The objective was really another one: to establish an American bastion in the heart of the Middle East. Having incompetent U.S. officials distribute Iraqi money as if it were "funny money" instead of turning it over to the Iraqi interim government was part of this plan. Clearly, the Bush administration has never played Monopoly, or it would know the game's cardinal rules: never waste money and always invest wisely.
CRLD nice vol could use an uptick
Gulf currency bets resurrect Islamic bonds...RV Talk
May 6, 2008 - 2:13PM
The Gulf's once red-hot Islamic bond market is coming back to life after a nine-month lull as sellers look to benefit from talk of Gulf currency revaluation and rock-bottom interest rates, bankers said.
Still, with more of the bonds priced in local currencies - potentially limiting interest from foreign buyers - the pace may not be quite as feverish.
Islamic bonds, or sukuk, are in high demand by both Muslims - who are increasingly seeking investments that comply with their beliefs - and non-Muslim investors seeking exposure to booming Gulf Arab economies.
A global credit crunch triggered by defaults on US home sales last summer prompted several companies to scrap sukuk sales as borrowing became more expensive.
But firms cannot postpone borrowing indefinitely and some sense the time may now be right to look at sukuk again.
Activity is on the rise with a slew of companies planning issues or completing new issues, including property developer Nakheel and air-conditioning firm National Central Cooling in the United Arab Emirates as well as mammoth chemicals firm Saudi Basic Industries and Kuwaiti real estate firm Gulf Holding.
Ras al-Khaimah, part of the UAE federation, announced a sukuk program on Sunday worth up to $US2 billion ($2.1 billion), the first tranche of which is likely to be in dirhams.
"Local currency sukuk are coming back to life and I think that will continue because there's huge liquidity in the system and issuers really want to take advantage,'' said Jaafar Badwan, a managing director at Bahrain's Unicorn Investment Bank.
All but one of the new sales are in Gulf currencies, which investors hope will eventually be allowed to strengthen, increasing the value of future bond returns. Most sukuk were previously priced in US dollars.
Aside from the Kuwaiti dinar, Gulf Arab currencies are pegged to the falling US dollar and, despite official statements to the contrary, there is constant speculation central banks may revalue to stave off soaring inflation in the region.
Forward rates on Monday indicated the UAE dirham could appreciate 4.6% in two years.
A nearly six-fold rise in oil prices since 2002 has flooded the Gulf with cash that bankers are scrabbling to invest. Global investors have been piling into assets denominated in Gulf currencies since last year, snapping up stocks and property, and the same appeal exists with Gulf currency bonds.
A key driver behind recent sukuk issuance has been falling benchmark interest rates in the region, which help keep spreads looking attractive.
Spreads on the HSBC-DIFX US dollar Gulf sukuk index were 66.1 basis points over the benchmark three-month London Interbank Offered Rate when the credit crunch first hit last June. By May, they had soared to 220.79 basis points, or about 1.55%.
But a series of rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve in recent months has seen Gulf Arab states also slash rates to maintain their currency pegs.
"The rise in spreads has been offset by the fall in interest rates,'' said the head of Standard Chartered's Saadiq Islamic division, Afaq Khan. "Spreads may have gone up 200 basis points but interest rates have gone down 200 basis points, so overall you're getting the money at the same price.''
Islam bans interest, and sukuk are typically based on physical assets that pay a rent or dividend to bondholders. However, the returns are compared to benchmark interest rates.
Could use a push here
POST # 1000!!!!!! US to withdraw 3,500 soldiers from Iraq (Extra)
May 6, 2008, 13:38 GMT
Baghdad - About 3,500 soldiers that were part of a US troop surge in Iraq are to be withdrawn in the coming weeks, the US military said Tuesday.
The brigade, one of five units deployed in support of the surge, are to return to their home base in Fort Benning, Georgia in the next several weeks, the military said in a statement.
In June, the US deployed some 28,500 additional troops, mostly in Baghdad and surrounding areas, to improve security and curb violence.
The brigade is the third of the surge units to withdraw from Iraq while the remaining two brigades will redeploy by the end of July. The move is to decrease the number of US troops as violence in Iraq ebbs.
'The continued drawdown of surge brigades demonstrates continued progress in Iraq. After July, commanders will assess our security posture for about 45 days and determine future force requirements based on these conditions-based assessments,' said Brigadier General Dan Allyn from the US military.
CRLD good support here and news
CRLD good support here and news
Global bids to be invited for 10 Iraq oilfields
06 May 2008
Iraq intends to invite international bids to develop 10 of its oilfields as the Arab Opec producer is pushing ahead with plans to rehabilitate its war-damaged hydrocarbon sector, according to Iraq's former oil minister.
Thamir Abbas Ghadhban, who now heads a high-level committee that advises the Iraqi prime minister on energy issues, said technical agreements to be signed with a number of international oil companies (IOC) would add around 500,000 barrels per day to Iraq's crude output this year.
But the former minister appeared to be opposed to granting production-sharing contracts to IOCs for oilfields that have been already discovered and are producing, saying "no one of sane mind" would favour such contracts.
In an interview with the April issue of the Paris-based Arab Oil and Gas magazine, Ghadhban said nearly 70 IOCs had responded to an invitation by the Iraqi Oil Ministry to apply for permission to operate in Iraq as part of a multi-phase programme aimed at reviving the country's energy sector.
"It is a programme that is being implemented in several phases. The first stage is the negotiation of technical assistance contracts - technical service agreements (TSAs) - with at least five large international oil companies for the purpose of obtaining advice, technical support and the procurement of equipment outside Iraq... the Oil Ministry hopes this assistance will result in incremental production of around 500,000 bpd between now and the end of 2008 and the maintenance of that gain in 2009," he said.
"The second stage relates to some 10 fields. They are to be offered in an initial international tender in which 70 or more companies will be able to participate if they are effectively prequalified by the ministry.
"These fields are in production... service contracts are due to be awarded for the full development of these oilfields and the corresponding contracts will probably be concluded by the end of 2009. The third stage would be a second tender that would cover fields that have been discovered but not yet developed."
Ghadhban said he believed IOCs would accept services rather than production-sharing contracts (PSCs) for discovered oilfields on the grounds they are producing fields and have low production costs.
"In the case of already discovered fields, I think no one of sane mind would recommend PSCs, especially in Iraq. This type of contract was conceived for projects carrying a risk, which is not the case here," he said.
"These fields are simple and have been extensively studied and evaluated. The technical risks are very low, and the fields have a long production history. Furthermore, they are located close to existing infrastructure. I am certain IOCs will accept service contracts for our already discovered fields, in view of their geological characteristics, their very great potential, their low production costs and the current and future level of oil prices."
Iraq, a founding member of the 13-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has the world's third largest proven oil resources after those of Saudi Arabia and Iran. But its output capacity has largely eroded because of conflicts over the past three decades.
Iraq had pumped in excess of 3.5 million barrels per day before its 1990 invasion of Kuwait but its current sustainable capacity is just above two million bpd. Officials hope development programmes could lift capacity to six million bpd and also boost its recoverable crude reserves. Last year, Iraq approved a controversial bill that regulates the oil sector in different areas but it has yet to be passed.
"I think there is still the possibility of a compromise on the text of the bill. There is certainly a great deal at stake, and the strained relations between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and especially between the Iraqi Oil Ministry and the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources, have made things even more difficult," Ghadhban said.
He said the decision by the KRG to sign several production-sharing contracts and the threat of the Iraqi Oil Ministry to place firms that have signed agreements with the KRG on a blacklist have complicated the problem.
But he remained optimistic. "The differences between the two sides are not huge in the end. I personally believe it would be easier to find a solution to this problem if agreements were concluded on other issues, such as the status of Kirkuk."
"The future oil law gives the planned Iraqi National Oil Company sufficiently broad powers for taking decisions about the type of relationship to be established with IOCs, and I hope these relations will be very professional. One must not politicise what should not be politicised."
US and Iraqi troops kill nine Shiite militiamen in Baghdad
May 6, 2008, 7:51 GMT
Baghdad - US and Iraqi troops killed nine Shiite militiamen in separate operations in Baghdad where they also uncovered weapons in the stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia, the US military said Tuesday.
In an operations on Sunday, Iraqi counter-terrorism teams backed by US special forces engaged 'special groups criminals,' killing three of them after they attacked the troops with small arms fire.
Special groups criminals is a term used by the US military to describe Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen.
In another incident in the northern Baghdad district of Shulah, the Iraqi force conducted an operation Monday 'to prevent Special groups activity and disrupt improvised explosive device networks,' according to the US military.
The operation involved a US aircraft, which fired four rounds, killing a gunman. The Iraqi force killed three gunmen and detained two after it was attacked by them.
'Operations to enforce the rule of law, detain criminal elements and disrupt their networks continue across Baghdad,' said Colonel Bill Buckner, a spokesman for the US military.
On March 25, the Iraqi government launched a crackdown on Shiite militias in the southern province of Basra and Shiite-dominated areas in east and north Baghdad.
While the offensive in Basra has nearly come to an end, deadly fighting in the east Baghdad district of Sadr City and surrounding areas are still raging, leaving hundreds dead and injured.
In Ur, east Baghdad, a US patrol killed a Shiite gunman Monday after a small arms fire attack by 'a special group criminal,' the military said.
Also in east Baghdad, a US aircraft killed a gunman and wounded another while they were placing an improvised explosive device in the Jamilla district, the military said.
US troops also uncovered a weapon cache containing 60-millimetre mortar rounds, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, an RPG warhead, a light anti-tank weapon, a light machine gun and other ammunitions.
The military statement did not give details of where the weapons cache was discovered.
In the restive Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad, 10 Iraqi soldiers were killed in a an attack on a checkpoint Monday, the US military said.
The attack, which the military blamed on insurgents from the al- Qaeda in Iraq group, took place in Mindili, 110 kilometres north-east of Baghdad.
Thirteen soldiers were injured in the attack.
Sunni extremist insurgents are active in Diyala where an operation by Iraqi troops backed by US forces have failed so far to quell the insurgency there.
ANALYSIS: Iraq's government caught between two rival allies
May 6, 2008, 12:47 GMT
Cairo- As tension rises between the US and Iran, Iraq's Shiite-dominated government finds it hard to juggle relations with its two powerful allies standing at the brink of confrontation.
Washington is accusing Iran of funding, arming and training Shiite militias in Iraq to attack US and Iraqi troops, while Tehran blames the presence of the US-led 'occupation forces' for the bloody unrest in the neighbouring Arab country.
Iraq's ruling coalition is dominated by Shiite political parties with strong religious and kinship ties with Iran, the largest Shiite Muslim country.
Many politicians from the ruling Shiite coalition spent years in exile in Iran and received considerable backing from its government before the collapse of the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
In recent weeks, not only have US officials intensified their accusations against Iran, but Iraqi officials themselves joined the chorus, said Zuhair al-Jazairi, editor of the independent Voices of Iraq news agency.
'The turning point came with the government offensive in Basra against the Shiite Mahdi Army militia and the ensuing fighting in Sadr City,' al-Jazairi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'It is usual for US officials to trumpet Iranian weapons discovery, but over the last weeks Iraqi officials too have come out publicly to speak about discovery of Iranian weapons,' the Iraqi journalist said.
The shift in the official Iraqi position on Iran has been mainly spurred by the fact that those weapons have a 2008 manufacture date, al-Jazairi maintained.
With the ongoing confrontation with the Mahdi Army of Iranian- backed cleric Moqtada al Sadr, the Iraqi army has found that the militia's arms supplies are being replenished with newly-manufactured weapons.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appeared to have been so alarmed by the uncontrollable weapon smuggling from Iran along its 1,340 kilometre that he sent senior Shiite politicians to Tehran to convey his concerns.
Al-Maliki and many other top Iraqi officials have previously travelled to Iran, but this seems to mark the first time that an elite team has been sent to Tehran to raise the issue of Iranian meddling in Iraqi affairs, al-Jazairi said.
The Iraqi politicians returned from Iran Saturday with reassurances and support for al-Maliki's government. The positive response coming from Tehran did not cut ice among Iraqi and US officials.
The next day Iraqi cabinet spokesman, Ali al-Dabagh, issued contradictory statements on Iran's role in Iraq, saying Baghdad needed evidence for Iranian interference in Iraq. Hours later, al- Dabagh retracted what he said, saying proof existed.
The official contradictory statements highlight Baghdad's confusion over the scope of Iran's role, its ties with Shiite militias and the difficult task of juggling ties with Washington and Tehran.
'The Iraqi government is alarmed by recent weapon finds, but one thing is certain: it does not want Iraq to become a stage of a conformation between the US and Iran,' al-Jazairi said.
This view has been echoed by al-Dabagh.
'Iraq does not want to be pushed into any confrontation with neighbouring countries, especially Iran. What happened before is enough. We paid the price,' al-Dabagh told reporters Sunday.
The Iraqi official was referring to the Iran-Iraq war, which claimed the lives of about one million people through the 1980s.
Since the collapse of the Saddam regime, ties between both countries have significantly improved, especially under the Shiite- dominated coalition.
Baghdad will use diplomacy rather than confrontation to sort out the problem with Iran, al-Jazairi said.
'Baghdad has been acting as a mediator between the US and Iran as it attempts to defuse tension between them and avert a confrontation in which Iraq may be the main battleground, the journalist concluded.
Iraqi businessmen's conference "Rebuild Iraq" fair opens in Jordan
May 6, 2008, 12:38 GMT
Amman - The Iraqi Business Council opened its third conference in Amman Tuesday with the participation of hundreds of Iraqi entrepreneurs and representatives of foreign companies who seek investment opportunities in Iraq.
The three-day meeting, which is sponsored by the US-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, is expected to focus on future investment outlets in Iraq and the chances of forging cooperation and partnerships between Iraqi businesses and their foreign counterparts particularly those taking part in the fifth Rebuild Iraq fair which opened in Amman Monday, organizers said.
'The conference is set to create a linkage among firms participating in Iraq's reconstruction and provides an opportunity for representatives of Iraqi, Arab and international firms to acquaint themselves with the investment projects in Iraq,' the chamber's Vice-Chairman Majed Michel said.
About 500 companies from 31 countries are participating in the Rebuild Iraq 2008 fair, according to Albert Aoun, chairman of the IFP Group, which organizes the event.
Sectors covered in the fair include building and construction, electricity, telecommunications, water and sanitation, health, agriculture, security and information technology and general products and goods, Aoun said.
English: Govt. confirms ability to double investments
Baghdad, May. 6, P. 1
PM Noori Maliki declared govnemnt's ability to double investment's allocations in provinces, as he confirmed that Iraqi economy's development became in an advanced level
Maliki said that at his opening first coordinating meeting of central government, regions and provinces councils, and ceremony of signing contract between the the government and Boeing and Bombardeir companies to purchase 65 airplanes.The government seeks carry out wide reconstruction campaign in all provinces, once the parliament approved them after forming higher panel headed by PM to complete security successes.
Announcement No.(1159)
D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control
The 1159 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Tuesday 2008/5/6 so the results were as follows :
Details Notes
Number of banks17-----
Auction price selling dinar / US $1201-----
Auction price buying dinar / US $1199-----
Amount sold at auction price (US $)127.170.000-----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) 1.200.000
Total offers for buying (US $)127.170.000-----
Total offers for selling (US $)1.200.000-----
The M2 numbers for Feb have just been posted.
M2 Jan was 27,037
M2 Feb was 25,342
It is in billion of Dinars so it was a 2 trillion Dinar reduction.
http://www.cbiraq.org/key%20financial.xls
Burgan Bank is talks to buy a share in Iraqi bank
ي. 04/05/2008 banking sources said was responsible for «Qabas» The Burgan Bank is currently talks to buy a share in an Iraqi bank, and negotiations are still in their early stages, and may reach an agreement, possibly within this year.
و واجانب. The sources added, saying: hold negotiations for the purchase of a share in the bank owned by an Iraqi list of Iraqis and foreign investors. وامتنعت اا. The sources refrained from giving any other details about the banking unit, which is negotiating to buy a share in the capital today. ر ليس سهلا ة. They just sources saying: this is not easy under the circumstances existing in Iraq, but we look forward to the presence in this market within the bank's plan for the acquisition of shares in banking institutions in the region.
وصرفي is currently expected to acquire shares in the banking institutions, North Africa, particularly Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt. ين مقل. It is noteworthy that the United Gulf Bank, which is based in Bahrain and Kuwait followed a set of draft Holding, which had been reported earlier that talks are to sell some assets from the bank did not disclose these assets under negotiation, at a time when the bank owns a share in the Bank of Baghdad, and Holding company owns spouse (Iraq Holding previously) a share in the Bank of Baghdad.
http://209.85.171.104/translate_c?hl...admore%3D10176
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Maliki warns of investments offering the country's sovereignty at risk
5-05-08
Warned Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki investments brought the country to the rule violation or danger. He said at the opening of the coordination between central and local governments today: "We must think and think together account for security as the country at the stage of targeting and promote the formation, and officials in the provinces should be aware of the seriousness of some economic projects."
He added: "I do not want to restrict these projects since we have the great powers after the formation of regions but we face the risks of certain investments because the exposure the country's sovereignty at risk and that should not be influential on the sovereignty of Iraq or mortgaging the country." Maliki explained: "The new Iraq needs to continue and coordination between the central government and regional governments under the Constitution." He continued: "I see the conference through the stabilization of the foundations of national unity and sovereignty of the country and eliminate points of differences and understanding in the process of interpreting things according to the new constitution in addition to the provinces need to benefit from each other experiences in the field to start reconstruction."
Al-Maliki called on local government officials to work and race against time for ages .. pointing out: "The openness gives us the history of provincial fertility and understanding of the projects and solution of problems." " .. And: "Terrorism prevents the release of development in the country while many companies want to invest" He reported: "The security situation is improving and we want to double the amount allocated for investment in the budget with the stability of the security situation." " He stressed: "The language of exclusion and marginalization and the controlling party has gone and is no category in the new Iraq marginalized or control of the government party"
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US: Hezbollah training Iraqi Shiite extremists in Iran
By PATRICK QUINN
Associated Press Writer
May 5, 10:14 AM EDT
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi Shiite extremists are being trained by members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in camps near Tehran, a U.S. military spokesman said Monday.
Iraqis are receiving the training at camps operated by the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps that has been accused of training and funneling weapons to Shiite extremists in Iraq, Air Force Col. Donald Bacon, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, told The Associated Press.
"We have multiple detainees who state Lebanese Hezbollah are providing training to Iraqis in Iranian IRGC-QF training camps near Tehran," Bacon said.
The Quds Force is also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force, or IRGC-QF. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
The Quds Force is believed to operate overseas, helping to create the militant Shiite Hezbollah group in 1982 in Lebanon and to arm Bosnian Muslims during the Balkan wars.
The first reports of Hezbollah training of Shiite extremists emerged in March 2007, when U.S. forces captured Qais Khazali, the senior Special Groups leader for Iraq, and Ali Mussa Daqduq, a senior Lebanese Hezbollah commander captured along with him. The arrests took place in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
"Ali Mussa Daqduq confirmed Lebanese Hezbollah were providing training to Iraqi Special Group members in Iran and that his role was to assess the quality of training and make recommendations on how the training could be improved," Bacon told The AP in an e-mail.
Since then, Bacon said, "we have captured other Iraqis who have discussed their training in Iran and who state many of their instructors were Lebanese Hezbollah."
The U.S. has accused Iran of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq. But Iran, which is predominantly Shiite like Iraq, has blamed violence in the war-torn country on the U.S. presence.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have for the past six weeks battled Shiite extremists in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting against the so-called "special groups" that have broken away from anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Iran said Monday it would not hold a new round of talks with the U.S. on security in Iraq until American forces end their assault against Shiite militias.
Iraq's government spokesman said Sunday that the crackdown will continue even if Iran pulls out of the talks.
A five-member Iraqi delegation was sent to Tehran last week to try to choke off suspected Iranian aid to militiamen. They met with Gen. Ghassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, but no clear details emerged from the meeting.
sorry, here they are...He said the Yasiri, one dealing with the auction told (Voices of Iraq) that "the rise in today's meeting was expected that the meeting Monday is usually taken by the auction date for the change in exchange rate which is concentrated in foreign remittances."
Yasiri, and that "today's meeting that was characterized by increased cash demand is rising along with other cash remittances abroad and the second case is the disappearance of sell offers for the first meeting in over two weeks, where they sell offers from the market to auction present throughout the hearings this week and last."
The expert said the economic and industrial Sadiq Abdul Razzaq, "The disappearance of auction sales presentations and increased demand monetary indicator of the economic feasibility of the procurement process from the auction because of a price differential profitable for traders from the banks and their customers derive from this process."
His sincere, "the accounts of banks and their customers regarding procurement takes into account the monetary size of the amount to be saved and the exchange rate market and the profitability of the exchange rate of the auction after calculating amounts of commissions charged by the bank and the added commissions for sales operations cash auction."
He pointed out that "the added commissions amounting to ten dinars over the purchase price in addition to the commission by the bank participating in this process as an intermediary between the customer and the purchase of the Central Bank of Iraq and this indicates clearly the reason for the difference between purchase price and selling at auction the Central Bank of Iraq."
For his part, an economic expert, Dr. Abbas told Aluj (Voices of Iraq) "price policy by the Central Bank of Iraq must be transparent and rely on scientific bases on the movement and maintain market performance and not a negative impact and banditry in front of speculators."
He added that Aluj "On a weekly basis-point reduction in fixed date would have no significant impact on the market only to change the date or the lifting of price reduction in the number of points without precise calculations would lead to damage of the market."
noteworthy auction comments for today,,5-5-08
Oil passes $120, gas prices slip more than a cent
By JOHN WILEN
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil futures surged to a new record over $120 a barrel Monday, raising concerns about higher prices for gasoline and goods and services throughout the economy. Retail gas prices fell more than a cent over the weekend, but oil's advance increased the likelihood that pump prices would resume their climb.
Supply threats that emerged overseas and a weaker dollar sent light, sweet crude for June delivery to a new trading record of $120.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before futures retreated slightly to trade up $3.59 at $119.91.
Oil's sharp rise this year has driven gas prices to unprecedented levels, prompting consumers to reconsider summer vacation plans and limit daily excursions; they're also spending less at malls and shopping centers because they're paying more not just for fuel, but for all kinds of goods and services. Americans are also being pinched by tight credit conditions, a sluggish jobs market and a downturn in the housing market.
"American consumers are being hit hard financially from a bunch of different directions," said Troy Green, a spokesman for AAA.
If oil prices continue climbing, gas prices could rise as high as $3.75 a gallon on a national basis, Green said, though, "in some places, it's already above $4 a gallon."
In most years, gas prices peak in May or early June, then mostly decline for the rest of the year. But oil at $120 - and rising - may force the experts to rewrite their rulebook.
The mix of factors that drove oil to its latest record were a microcosm of the forces that have nearly doubled oil prices from their levels of about $62 a barrel one year ago. The dollar weakened against the euro on Monday, attracting investors to commodities such as oil which they see as a hedge against inflation. Also, a falling dollar makes oil less expensive to investors overseas. A series of Federal Reserve rate cuts starting last year weakened the dollar considerably against foreign currencies; analysts blame the dollar's protracted decline for oil's sharp rise this spring.
Supply outages or threats emerged in Iraq, Nigeria and from Iran on Monday; events in all three nations have caused prices to spike many times in recent months.
In Iraq, Kurdish rebels warned they could launch suicide attacks against American interests to punish the U.S. for sharing intelligence with Turkey after Turkey bombed rebel bases in Iraq on Friday. In Nigeria, a Royal Dutch Shell PLC spokesman said attackers hit an oil facility belonging to Shell's joint venture in southern Nigeria and that some oil production has been shut down. And Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country will not bend to international pressure and give up its nuclear program.
Energy investors grow concerned any time conflict breaks out or is threatened in the oil-rich Middle East. Years of unrest in Nigeria have cut off nearly a quarter of the major U.S. supplier's oil output.
Beyond the occasional threats to crude supplies, global demand for oil continues to grow. While demand for oil and gasoline has been soft in the U.S., the Chinese and Indian economies are growing by double digits, boosting global demand for oil.
Oil's rise has pushed gasoline to a series of records in recent weeks, though the average national price of a gallon of regular gas slipped to $3.611 a gallon on Monday, down 1.1 cents from Friday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices reached a record $3.623 a gallon on Thursday.
Diesel prices also fell Monday, slipping to a national average of $4.239 from a record $4.251 on Thursday. The runup in prices of diesel, used to power most trucks, trains and ships, is one reason why food prices are so high.
But the slight relief motorists are seeing at the pump could end quickly if oil's rise continues. Andy Lebow, senior vice president at MF Global Inc., thinks the gas price declines of the last four days are almost entirely due to crude oil's sharp drop last week; prices fell from $119.93 on Monday as low as $110.30 on Thursday before rebounding. Gas prices tend to follow prices in the futures market, but with some lag.
"If the price of oil remains this high, we could see the price of gas rise another 10 to 15 cents," Green said.
It's impossible to tell whether gas prices will fall this summer, as they have in the past, Green said. However, he noted that demand for gasoline has fallen since early this year, a sign that high prices are cutting Americans' appetite for fuel. Analysts believe falling demand is preventing refiners from raising gas prices fast enough to keep up with oil prices, which they much buy to turn into fuel. While oil prices have risen nearly 94 percent in one year, gas prices are up only 19 percent.
In other Nymex trading Monday, June gasoline futures rose 8.25 cents to $3.0489 a gallon, and June heating oil futures rose 9.38 cents to $3.3125 a gallon. June natural gas futures rose 42 cents to $11.197 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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Top US commando: More elite forces needed for Iraq
May 5, 2:38 PM EDT
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's top commando says in an Associated Press interview that even as the overall U.S. force in Iraq shrinks, the number of elite troops known as special operations forces is likely to grow.
Adm. Eric T. Olson said Monday that more of these specially trained, often secretive forces may be required in Iraq in order to fill a niche role in the development of Iraqi security forces as the number of conventional Army troops goes down. Olson is commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command.
It was Olson's first interview since he took the helm at Special Operations last July.
© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
Despite the improvement of security and stability of the dollar .. local market is witnessing a rise in prices!
5-4-08
Controlling prices of goods imported and domestic value of U.S. dollar exchange rate against the local currency. Often talked with the declining economic crisis or high U.S. dollar exchange rate. What is striking to look into the Iraqi market is that prices rise gradually without taking into consideration the exchange rate of decline in the dollar The specialists in the economic aspect as the price comes against the backdrop of the collapse of local industry. It is no secret about the people proximate that once Iraqi private sector is still stalled because of the House during previous years which saw dramatic situations. The owner of those years the inability of industrial banks to provide loans deserved (the product Iraqi) in the development work to restore Iraqi industry to the category of neighbouring States, which is rich in many different industries and has become the bulk product competes globally.
Talk about the domestic industry low as highlighted during the past five years, crowds of local importers to dump the Iraqi market which has become an arena for the disposal of all goods not conforming with legal requirements and goods entering the market poor in ways that do not know the corridors? Today, after more than five years citizen tastes bitter suffering joints in all the difficult life. It became necessary to put solutions to those suffering after establishing security and stability. We place a new war of attrition name income of living of the ordinary citizen. Which raises the attention-based accounting squatters on profiteers through observation and the abusers accountable. Everyone knows that there is no spark firing bursts to attract Alantaba of security services. . Situation every day and feel flimsy pretexts of the perpetrators. Citizen has become the vortex of high prices, mostly accused those responsible held accountable not greedy merchants and the other part will tell the Ministry of Commerce blame for not delivering items fulfilment of the ration card, which impacted on the rise foodstuffs The farmer who provides the basket was good of the Iraqi family had abandoned their land simply imported from neighboring countries.
Low income
The first station in a market session, which resumed its activity after years of deprivation and destruction long after the terrorist operations. Imad Khalil was the first speaker to us from higher food prices. He said it is natural to see a big rise in food commodities and the impact of domestic turmoil security conditions and productivity, thereby increasing the problem is also the recent increase in the salaries of retirees in recent times. With rain Mr. Aziz said that the reasons for the high retiree any article of food comes against the backdrop of unstable security situation in general, which makes it easy to process the majority of traders to raise prices at the expense of the citizen, who does not have the capability to stop those tugging at high prices. The result, we believe that the citizen has become between the claws of the flames prices after an absence of government agencies to deter greed .. traders With Ms. Jinan or 56 years is no doubt that most affected are the owners of limited income. . They attributed the reason for that to the inability of the private sector get back on their feet as Ms. Or Jinan saw that the private sector is the fountain of the economy in any civilized country ..
Low offset rising
With Mr. Salim Jawad said economic professor at the Faculty of Administration and Economy University of Baghdad: local markets witnessed a remarkable fluctuation in the past years in the U.S. dollar exchange rate that resulted in a marked escalation in the prices of foodstuffs and other which was linked to rise and partial fall at that time. Where the impact of this rise in the large class of poor and bad of the monthly income of the family. .
Conversely, the Central Bank of Iraq to pump large amounts of hard currency market to avoid the rise again and keep my time and even the U.S. dollar exchange rate which became worth of local currency between 120000 and 123000 thousand Iraqi dinars. But we have not seen a real decrease in the food and other materials that were imported in hard currency when the dollar exchange rate exceeded (200000) thousand dinars in the past years. This is one of the things that was argued by most traders. He also added that the problem has not yet finished lower U.S. dollar exchange rate, but produced other facts revealed by the fact that most importers and traders who still insist on arguments security situation and lack of fuel crisis in the production of electrical energy is one of the factors affecting the price rise not to mention the lack of commitment by the Ministry of Trade processing Citizens of all items of the ration card which became Moussa stick by the argument weak souls.
Are tied
We met a number of shop owners who refused to sell conclusively links the high prices of foodstuffs. Abu Abd Allah shop owner to sell his vegetables. The high food prices caused by recent major importer and owners of the sentence. We believe that the majority of fruits and vegetables that we offer in their shops are imported from neighbouring countries, in contrast to the years preceding overthrow the regime since the majority of foodstuffs (agricultural) of farmland and local subsidized significantly from the farm at the time. So we have not seen a product importer in our markets contrary to what we see now With Mr. Hassan said that Assem problem of high food prices comes after a decision by the Government to increase the salaries of employees and retirees. This is no different for two! Since we are accused of selling and buying process, we want the government agencies that provide us with security and liquidity needed by all farms to be the final outcome in the provision of domestic and agricultural basket at subsidized prices. It is unfair to be charged in the box and we import these goods from the primary at their own expense and without any assistance from the government parties.
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posted by bambaboo from IIF....The role of market mechanisms to improve the financial performance of the private economic sector
2008-05-04
An overview of the financial market:
The importance of the financial market and evolve necessary in the economies seeking to adopt the policy of market liberalization and the development of mechanisms aimed at developing private sector participation in the development process and economic development adopted at the initiative and the first individual and collective, that capital markets can play a crucial role in attracting the surplus of capital - Officer, and other packaged in the national economy (unemployed and inactive) to the principal officer and effectively in the economic cycle, through investment operations carried out by individuals and companies in equities, bonds and instruments that would be announced in the securities markets.
Objectives of the financial market:
• helps to convert savings into investments successful
• encouraged to pool efforts of the private sector small and scattered to the companies a significant contribution through public subscription.
• helps to operate a large number of manpower both in the various institutions of the Stock Exchange or in the shareholding companies.
• upgrading skills in order to be eligible in the new work environment
• creates sophisticated mechanisms for assessing the performance of companies according to standard systems analysis presents the precise indicators reflect the nature of the evolution of these companies
• do the mechanisms of the alliance of local firms with international companies
• opens broad opportunities for investment so as to protect existing cash from corrosion
• encourage the establishment of financial institutions to improve the investment environment (insurance companies or financial analysis, etc. ..).
• encouraged to attract foreign capital
The role of the financial market in activating the mechanisms of investment
* The stock market mechanisms and channels sound incomes for individuals, companies and government institutions and private, which owns surplus cash wishing to participate in the investment process, as well as a key instrument for promoting economic development in the States and achieve a number of economic benefits, including benefits, ownership, possession and use and appropriate return on investment.
* Represents an incentive for companies listed their shares in those markets to follow changes in the prices of their shares and send them to improve their performance and increase profitability which leads to improvement in the prices of shares of these companies. Whenever the securities markets have been more effective as the ability to achieve its vital in supporting and consolidating economic stability.
* Creates an opportunity for international institutional investors that have the desire to work and participate in reconstruction operations, to enter the Iraqi market through banking companies or local companies are guaranteed by the banking system note that many of these institutions is ready to accept the risk of a rate acceptable result of what can be achieved Profitability of large returns, compared to the relatively stable global markets where growth rates and profits are very limited ..
* Help increase production levels in the economy through financing investment opportunities leading to higher levels of production and hence higher levels of employment or employment, thereby achieving better standards of revenues, both at the individual level or national level.
* Finance the economic development process by assisting State Governments to borrow from the public for the purpose of financing infrastructure projects aimed at expediting economic growth rates have.
The foundations of the successful operation of the financial market:
In all States that its economy depends on the activity of large companies that are trading enterprises securities in the capital market represents the bulk of economic activity in those countries, and in the event marked the capital market appropriate degree of efficiency, there are indicators of statistical charts and is carefully designed to measure the situation Market as a whole would be a mirror of the overall economic situation of the state. As can be indicators of stock prices, moreover, that predicts future economic situation, before any change happens before the time period.
Market index measures the level of securities and price trends in the market, and represents the sleepiness of the performance of those companies and therefore reflects the level of performance of each economic sector (agricultural, industrial, tourism, banking, etc. ..).
Depends Almicrali sample of the stocks of companies that are traded the lead in capital markets organized or unorganized, or both, and this sample allow the index to reflect the situation in the capital market, which aims indicator measured. Such as the Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) index and 500 of the Standard and Poor's (S & P500). The sectoral indicators measuring the status of any market for a particular industry or sector, for example, the Dow Jones transportation industry, or Standard and Poor's index of manufacturing Service
Measuring the efficiency of financial market:
The market is efficient market that achieves more efficient allocation of resources available (Allocation Efficiency) to ensure direct those resources to areas more profitable. In order to achieve efficient allocation of financial resources available, should be available when the key features are: efficient pricing and operational efficiency. And knows the efficiency of pricing (Price Efficiency) or external efficiency is the speed the arrival of new information to all dealers in the market - without a significant time lag - and has not incurred heavy costs in the process, making stock prices reflect all available information. Bringing the deal in the market for a fair game (Market Fair Game), everybody have the same opportunity to achieve profits, but it is difficult for someone profiting unfairly at the expense of others. The operational efficiency (Operational Efficiency) or internal efficiency means the market's ability to create a balance between supply and demand, without the dealers incur when the high cost of brokerage and without access to traders and specialists (ie, market makers) opportunity to realize the extent or the margin of profit it effectively. As it seems, the efficient pricing depends largely on operational efficiency.
In this regard, the efficient market will play two roles, one direct and one indirect:
• direct role: based on the fact that when investors buy shares of an enterprise, they are in fact buying future earnings. This means that enterprises that have the promising investment opportunities will easily be able to issue more shares and selling price, which means an appropriate increase in the issuance and lower average cost of funds.
• indirect role: a turnout of investors to deal in shares issued by established as a safety index of borrowers, which means access to more established financial resources through issuing bonds or borrowing contracts with financial institutions and is usually at a reasonable interest rate.
Competitive role between the banks and the stock market to gain a bloc of cash available for investment:
Financial market mechanisms create a variety of opportunities for investment are governed by a basic range of risk and return expectations associated with that degree of risk and most of these indicators are measured to the interest rate offered by banks on fixed deposits for a fixed term and most types of risks associated with the following indicators:
1. Interest rate risk: the changes in returns on securities due to changes in interest rates, as the relationship between stock prices and interest rates counterproductive.
2. Market risk (regular): The changes in returns on securities due to changes in the overall market economic recession or war.
3. The risks of inflation: In the case of inflation, real return is affected even if the nominal return content (such as in the case of government bonds).
4. Business risks (irregular): are the risks resulting from dealing in a particular industry due to external variables.
5. Financial risks: the risks associated with debt used by the company's capital structure and lack of hedging those risks.
6. Exchange-rate risk: the risks associated with changes in exchange rates, particularly investors who invest in global markets.
7. Political risks: the risks affecting the resolution of both local and foreign investors
8. Liquidity risk: how difficult it is a sale and purchase of these securities in the secondary market.
Integrative role of banks in stimulating investment through the mechanisms of the financial market:
1 - the establishment and management of market Release (First Market)
It is one of the main roles in which banks aim to activate the capital market, which in turn opens broad prospects for the banks to provide various types of integrated services with other banking services.
2 - the establishment of specialized investment funds:
Investment funds have become in general and especially real estate, such as (real estate investment securities International) REITs Global today constitute a driving force in large global market for investments, are increasingly becoming a source of income diversity and achievement through a good return on the cash made by banks and investment companies contribute. During the past five years, increasing the total volume of capital employed in the stock market real estate at the international level more than doubled, and end in 2006, the total funds that have been employed in real estate securities included in the financial markets 1600 billion U.S. dollars through 692 international companies Investment in real estate (. Report Gulf Investment Foundation).
3 - the practice of banks to financial intermediary function:
Most banks looking for a role in the financial market by providing mediation services in the circulation of securities and can bring great dividends in the exercise of this activity without incurring any risks.
4 - the practice of banks to function Market Makers:
Banks exercising this function through its activity in the market issuance, the task of maintaining the prices of shares that are issued after it is incorporated and traded in the market as they buy large quantities of these shares in the event of its collapse and then sell them at a height again, despite the existence of a calculated risk In this process but it could achieve profits of large banks have been muted if adequate capacity for analysis of elements affecting the movement of prices.
5 - the practice of banks to one portfolio manager shares.
Banks exercising this function the objective of winning customers with financial solvency, especially cross-border customers wishing to invest in the local market and realized their consultancy services and analysis at the same time.
Conclusion:
The establishment of financial market environment in certain economic opens broad prospects for the economy of that environment to establish a diversified economic entities, the most important contribution that companies improve economic performance and help increase the efficiency of manpower and increase business opportunities and to a large extent, allowing companies to investment and international business to contribute to the activation of activities Ala_i_mar communities.
Proposals:
1 - The bodies of investment research teams formed to study the fundamental aspects of different museums and encouraging the establishment of financial market in the province.
2 - the investment bodies to foster the establishment of one or more of the shareholding companies, which is supposed to be built according to a feasibility study and serious alleged a number of international financing institutions to contribute with the support and backing them to be a viable model continuously and more than one sector.
3 - by universities and research centers of academic subjects proposal Atarih and research that serve the development of the financial environment and help build the foundations of the founding of the market and other entities working in his field.
4 - The bodies of investment in cooperation with ministries concerned with the development of investment and the prospects for opening universities to work with international organizations and promotional campaigns planned by the successful aimed at attracting foreign investment and contribute to the establishment of joint stock companies capable of upgrading the economic environment to the level of countries that began the application of economic reform programmes.
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US-backed plan sees shiny future for Green Zone in Iraq
By BRADLEY BROOKS and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press Writers
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and lack of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.
That's all part of a five-year development "dream list" - or what some dub an improbable fantasy - to transform the U.S.-protected Green Zone from a walled fortress into a centerpiece for Baghdad's future.
But the $5 billion plan has the backing of the Pentagon and apparently the interest of some deep pockets in the world of international hotels and development, the lead military liaison for the project told The Associated Press.
For Washington, the driving motivation is to create a "zone of influence" around the new $700 million U.S. Embassy to serve as a kind of high-end buffer for the compound, whose total price tag will reach about $1 billion after all the workers and offices are relocated over the next year.
"When you have $1 billion hanging out there and 1,000 employees lying around, you kind of want to know who your neighbors are. You want to influence what happens in your neighborhood over time," said Navy Capt. Thomas Karnowski, who led the team that created the development plan.
Karnowski said a deal already has been completed for Marriott International Inc. to build a hotel in the Green Zone. He also said a possible $1 billion investment could come from MBI International, a conglomerate that focuses on hotels and resorts and is led by Saudi Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber.
Elizabeth Caminiti, a Marriott spokeswoman, declined to comment. Phone calls and e-mails sent to London-based MBI were not returned.
For the moment, however, it's mortars and rockets - not investment money - pouring into the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. and British embassies, key Iraqi government offices and other international compounds. Militants have escalated their shelling of the enclave since Iraqi forces began a crackdown on Shiite militias in late March.
But developers are clearly looking many years ahead and gambling that Baghdad could one day join the list of former war zones such as Sarajevo and Beirut that have rebounded and earned big paydays for early investors.
Even now - with violence in Baghdad again creeping up - the faint hints of the development plan have driven up the Green Zone's already sky-high real estate prices.
Land that a few years ago was going for $60 a square meter on 50-year leases in the zone is now going for up to $1,000 a square meter, American officials say.
Last week, a Los Angeles-based holding company for equity firms, C3, confirmed it was starting a $500 million project to build an amusement park on the outskirts of the Green Zone in an area encompassing the Baghdad Zoo. The first phase, a skateboard park, is scheduled to open this summer.
But any Green Zone project is literally starting from the ground up.
"There is no sewer system, no working power system. Everything here is done on generators. No road system repair work. There are no city services other than the minimal amount we provide to get by," Karnowski said.
He noted that of 500 development projects carried out in Baghdad last year, not one was done in the Green Zone - with the exception of the building of the new American embassy.
The plan also envisions significantly reducing the non-Iraqi footprint in the Green Zone, a five-square-mile area crisscrossed by 15-foot-high blast walls and checkpoints.
About 50 percent of the area is now occupied by coalition forces, the U.S. State Department or private foreign companies. If all were to go according to Karnowski's plan, only 5 percent of land in the Green Zone will be in foreigners' hands in five years.
Privately, American diplomats say the plan is, at best, wishful thinking.
Security is nowhere near the level needed for major development projects. Then there is the question of whether the Iraqi government even wants U.S. involvement in developing the center of their capital.
One diplomat, who asked not to be named because of no authorization to speak to the media, said they did not think Iraqis would want Washington to "turn this area into downtown Kansas City."
But Both Karnowski and Iraqi officials said the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is interested in hearing U.S. ideas in developing the Green Zone, though many Iraqi leaders have expressed worries and words of caution.
"The Iraqi government wants to limit U.S. power in the Green Zone," a top adviser to al-Maliki said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Iraqis also complain that the Americans - because they control security in the Green Zone - essentially hold a veto over the investors.
Karnowski acknowledged that American officials would vet potential investors because of a "vested interest."
Some Iraqi leaders even have drawn parallels to the U.S.-backed development plan and what Saddam Hussein did in the area - known by its Iraqi name of Tashri during his regime.
Hussein stocked the neighborhood with family and tribal allies, political loyalists and members of his elite Republican Guard. Karnowski called the accusation "partially true."
"Why do people build fences around their house? The intent is until such time as it's much safer around here, you want to be able to influence what goes on," he said.
The biggest hurdle to the plan is sorting out the true owners of property in the Green Zone, where "eminent domain by gun" was employed during the Saddam era, Karnowski said.
The chaos after Saddam's fall also added the murkiness.
"It's a jungle here," said Hussein, a 28-year-old from Lebanon who started a contracting company about a year ago in Baghdad and rents out living space in the Green Zone on the side. "It used to be like the Wild West - you grabbed some property and said, 'this is mine."
Air Force Lt. Col. Monte Harner leads the effort to discover who owns the titles and consolidate the areas held by the U.S. military.
He said the Army plans to move a military hospital in the zone - now located in a former private medical facility - to a base nearby, freeing it up for Iraqi use. Also in the works is the consolidation of Green Zone housing used by American troops.
Sadiq al-Rikabi, a top adviser to al-Maliki, said there are also plans for development projects at the Baghdad airport west of the city, including a hotel.
American officials confirmed some projects would be carried out near the airport.
According to Karnowski, the United States will spend $120 million to demolish buildings damaged by air strikes during the opening days of the war.
Both Karnowski and Harner are aware their Green Zone plan is viewed as unrealistic by many, primarily U.S. Embassy officials.
"If you talk to people at the State Department, they still believe a hotel isn't going up. But it is a done deal," Karnowski said of the Marriott project.
Harner also believes even having a blueprint is important.
"You have to stake a goal in the sand before you can begin to move toward it," he said. "Without a vision of what could be, you're just treading water."
The investment projects to rehabilitate oil fields in Dhi Qar
The district commissioner of juvenile Rifai Dhi Qar, Ajami Chitty, today, Sunday, that "the Iraqi Oil Ministry dispatched a special team to the town of Rifai, to conduct surveys and tests that precede the extraction of oil, under the draft Iraqi government to invest in a number of new oil fields, in maintaining" .
The district officer in an interview with Al-Rifai "Uzmatik", "The seismic survey team dispatched by the Ministry of Oil also aims to develop a number of fields and rehabilitating the old, in order to raise production capacity in the town of Rifai," 90 kilometres north of Nasiriyah Center Dhi Qar, 380 South of Baghdad.
Chitty and pointed out that the task of geological survey of the ministry "completed its work in identifying locations that have proved disclosures it highly productive oil deposits were not discovered earlier, and now comes the role of seismic survey, after the completion of this process will be installed towers extraction, in order to begin the process of production Oil from these new fields. "
The governor of Dhi Qar Aziz Alwan had called last year to invest six new oil fields, were not known previously, in the areas of Qal'at Sukkar, Rifa'i, Batha, north of Nasiriyah.
The oil expert said Bilal Hassan told "Uzmatik" that "studies started since last year, to determine the possibility of producing oil from six fields that have been talked about, has actually started to explore the field Rifai first step."
Bilal felt that "the extraction of oil from those fields was the chance to reduce the unemployment rates in the province, since these fields will provide 20000 jobs in such fields will be an important addition to the increase in production of Iraqi oil."
It is noteworthy that the South Oil Company had announced earlier that it would develop a number of oil fields discovered previously, in Dhi Qar, and announced the company responsible for the prospecting and extraction of oil in the provinces of Basra, Dhi Qar, this year it would develop a field which is expected Nasiriyah That produces 300 thousand barrels a day, Gharraf field, which accounts estimated affairs oil production b 130 thousand barrels a day, Abu field column, which is estimated production in the event of operation b 110 thousand barrels.
And the ability of experts oil reserves in the province nearly six billion barrels, according to optimistic estimates of local experts that Dhi Qar, in the event of all investment fields, can produce one third of Iraqi production of crude oil.
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Ministry of Municipalities and begin implementing a plan to develop the physical reality in Iraq
The minister of municipalities and public works Riyad Gharib begin implementing a plan extensive field to provide vital services to citizens in Baghdad and the whole provinces.
A statement by the Ministry received the agency (eye) a copy of it, saying the minister "that the plan includes support services ministry of municipalities and provincial organs and machinery and developing cities in terms of implementing modern designs according to modern urban planning and establishing a vast network of sewers along with the daily maintenance work and to bridge the swamp."
The statement added that the ministry has imported recently (78) and graders (75), CAPS (34) bulldozer, will be distributed to provinces and municipalities as needed for actual use in support services programmes, while 231 were distributed last week CAPS waste to the governorates.
" The strange "that the ministry actually started implementing a project to develop the city of Ramadi and update basic design as well as the implementation of the basic design of modern towns of Zubayr and Indian along with the cities of Musayyib and denominator."
The statement also said that work was underway to implement a project streams Mashkhab cost of four billion dinars, which will serve approximately (20) thousand people, in addition to the establishment in the city of Karbala Msagvat cost of two billion dinars.
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House of Representatives is expected to refer decisions (5 April) to activate the form of legislation
معات House of Representatives is expected to refer decisions (5 April) to activate the form of legislation
بغح BAGHDAD - Al Sabah
يعمقبل، Before the House this week a number of important laws to be discussed and voted upon, most notably the discussion of the election law and ideas that were raised when in order to facilitate the holding of provincial assemblies early next October,
واقرارل ايام. The adoption of amendments agreed between the political forces of law dismissed politicians, is awaiting the law of oil and gas blocs of political talks ended after the government make adjustments and access to the Parliament a few days ago.
في (اتفاقتشريعات. Meanwhile, parliamentary sources said the coming period will witness the activation of the political decisions of the Council for National Security (agreement on April 5), in the House of Representatives by translating the recommendations into laws and legislation.
قاي . The decision of the House of Representatives Mohammed Mahdi Al-Bayati told of the "morning" that the Parliament had "acknowledged that the law dismissed by the politicians, but there are some amendments put forward by some committees because of its great importance to the important segment of the Iraqi people suffered in a time The first expulsion of marginalization and exclusion, "pointing to the existence of an agreement on some amendments, the law will be introduced Tuesday or Wednesday next, after several amendments related to the interests of separated in order to undermine each separated his right hand or the appointment of monthly earned result of the government Years of detention or expulsion.
ت Oil and gas legislation
وب . He said there are some important laws ready and awaiting the House of Representatives to vote or discussion, agreement was made by the Cabinet and Parliament, especially as some delayed more than the time required, explaining that "the law of oil and gas after it was returned to the Cabinet because of some differences in By the leaders of the bloc have been many changes from the government and is now in the possession of the Parliament for discussion, it is legally important for Iraq and its economy and its future ", indicating that it would undoubtedly soon after the first and second reading to him, but he did not specify a date for discussion hidden and certainly that the law Arrived in the House of Representatives.
وكاالعفود. The parliament has approved last February three important laws in one go, namely: the state general budget and a law of amnesty and elections for provincial assemblies and then returned this step a major achievement that opens a new page of reconstruction and the political consensus in the new Iraq.
مبا . The statement pointed out that the electoral law will be raised at a meeting the day after tomorrow, Tuesday, and discussed by the competent committees and members of the House, especially as the law of provincial assemblies identified the first of October, the date for the holding of provincial assemblies, since it without a law can not hold elections.
وكان ودي. The Council of Ministers has issued last month, a draft law on election of provincial and district councils and respects according to the latest amendments, and that the draft law aims to organize elections in a fair and impartial to all provincial and district councils and wards so that these elections will be democratic and transparent, as revealed by government spokesman Dr. Ali Skinner, that the bill will open the existing method that allows voters to choose a candidate from within the electoral lists, according to the individual nomination.
ورمقبلة . He explained that the decision of the House of Representatives tabled in Parliament contains no discussion of the delegation's visit to Iran since the coalition issue with the coalition, particularly after the transfer of some files delegation to Tehran on the security situation and the nature of the events taking place in Iraq from security operations against armed and law-breakers, but it However: "If asked members of parliament to discuss the matter could be discussed in parliament," adding that the committee set up by Parliament and private Sadr City still exist and exercise their role is scheduled to submit its report to the House of Representatives to discuss topics related to some hot topics, as they -- Committee - raised some questions about her visit to Sadr City and Basra and other matters will be discussed during the coming days.
تفعيل مقررت. In the meantime Hassan al-Shamri said Deputy Prime bloc in parliament Virtue: The coming period will witness a referral decisions of the political council of national security to the House of Representatives to convert them into legislation and laws, and confer legitimacy on these recommendations.
وكيع. The Political Council for National Security has issued a recent statement from the 15-item nationally, in the forefront, calling for solution of all militias and disarming and restructuring of the Government of National Unity, the elimination of all judicial organizations illegal, and quickly amend the constitution and condemning outside interference. ـ . He told Al Shammari "Sabah" that the Council's work focuses on the political situation Strutejiat national, as the country's politicians and heads of parliamentary blocs are Shapers him, noting that the Council's decisions will be transferred to parliament for consideration and approval in the form of legislation and laws. For his part, said the Kurdistan Alliance member Mohsen Al - : The decisions of the political council was positive, and endorsed by most of the parliamentary blocs and acceptance. Sadoun stressed in a statement to "Al Sabah" was important to make those decisions through laws making it to be voted upon within the House of Representatives, to be bound by execution, calling the presidency of the political council to send recommendations In the form of a draft law to be legislation in parliament and work out.
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5/5/08 Auction 1158 rate 1201 IQD / 1 USD
May 5, 2008
Announcement No.(1158)
D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control
The 1158 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Monday 2008/5/5 so the results were as follows :
Details Notes
Number of banks 15
Auctionprice selling dinar / US $ 1201
Auction price buying dinar / US $
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 133.510.000
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $)
Total offers for buying (US $) 133.510.000
Total offers for selling (US $)
Stable demand for the dollar in central bank auction
Baghdad, 05 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)
Demand for the dollar was stable in the Iraqi Central Bank's auction on Sunday, registering at $91.520 million compared to $95.180 million on Thursday.
"The demand hit $6.20 million in cash and $85.500 million in money transfers outside the country, all covered by the bank at an exchange rate of 1,202 Iraqi dinars per dollar, the same for the 9th session in a row," according to the central bank's daily bulletin which was received by Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq - (VOI).
The 15 banks that participated in the auction offered to sell 520,000 dollars, which the bank bought all at a rate of 1,200 dinars per dollar.
In exclusive statements to VOI, Ali al-Yasseri, a trader, said that cash bids have practically increased, while foreign transfers have slightly dropped, compared to last week's closing session.
Warships guard Iraq’s economic lifeblood
By Stephen Fidler
05 May 2008 (Financial Times)
Up here, it is about oil. From two terminals stretching almost 20km (12 miles) out to sea in the northern Gulf, Iraq’s economic lifeblood – up to 1.8m barrels per day of it – flows into giant tankers that sit ever lower on the sea as they take on more crude oil.
Around the terminals, warships and other vessels from the US, UK and Australia, along with a renascent Iraqi coastal force, protect a 2,000-metre exclusion zone.
Fishermen in traditional wooden dhows equipped with sometimes powerful engines traverse the waters as they have for centuries, often crossing unintentionally over the borders that divide Iraq from Kuwait and Iran. When they and other boats approach the exclusion zone, they are warned and then confronted until they turn away.
Three wars have been fought in as many decades over the borders that in places are unresolved. Iran’s revolutionary guards have taken over a sunken Iraqi barge in the Shatt al-Arab waterway from which they watch coalition military activity.
Five kilometres away, from the war damaged Khor al-Amaya platform, the smaller of the terminals, British and Iraqi naval units watch them back. Not far from here, in March 2007, 15 British sailors and marines were seized by guard units and held for 12 days.
“It’s rather like the cold war,” says Commodore David Potts, the British naval officer who commands the northern Gulf taskforce that numbers about 10 ships. Cdre Potts recalls, as a young British naval officer, patrolling the River Elbe that divided East and West Germany until 1990.
The force is training Iraqi naval units to take over their role at some undetermined point. Until then, he says, the force’s job is “to try to achieve normalisation of maritime activity up there”.
With the world oil market sensitive to every small shift in oil supply and Iraq’s economy so heavily dependent on it, that means keeping the terminals open and averting the sort of attack that shut the 1.6m bpd al-Basra oil terminal for a day in April 2004.
These waters are, says one British naval officer, confined, hectic and crowded. It is an area of shallows, strong currents and sandstorms that blow fine choking dust and sharply reduce visibility, as they did last week.
Mines were sown here in the three conflicts. Although 1,300 Iraqi-laid mines were cleared since those wars, and those that may remain would not function in spite of retaining their explosive charges, parts of the zone off the Kuwaiti and Iraqi coasts are still designated mine hazard areas, deterring shipping and elevating insurance rates.
A mine-clearance force of 640 personnel and 22 ships from the US, UK and Kuwait, including symbolically an Iraqi patrol boat offering force protection, began an operation in March that seeks to end this designation and leave it formally safe for surface navigation.
Mine-hunting teams have scoured each of the 104 square nautical miles (357 sq km) of the seabed and the Khawr Abd Allah waterway – an area the size of Singapore – between three and five times.
“The good news is we have found nothing,” says Commander David Hunkin, who leads the force, in spite of sighting 2,000 objects that could have been mines but turned out to be harmless.
The teams use divers and new sonars and unmanned underwater vehicles that help them monitor shallow waters inaccessible to older technologies.
The teams await permission from Saudi Arabia to clear a small patch of its territorial waters, and should finish the operation by Thursday, leaving, says Cdr Hunkin, a small area of Iranian waters that they have not been invited to clear.
The next move is expected from the commander of the US Fifth Fleet, Vice-Admiral Kevin Cosgriff. Since his predecessor designated the zones as mine hazard areas, only he can redesignate them as former mined areas.
The mine clearance is part of a plan for economic regeneration of the northern Gulf, say the commanders.
In another development that some officers say might further help the area, Iraqi forces took over the port of Umm Qasr last month from militia groups.
The militias had extracted big payments to use the port, inhibiting trade there. Now that the Iraqi navy has taken charge, those payments should fall.
Yet, as last month’s intense fighting in Basra and continued tensions in US-Iranian relations have emphasised, the area is still a long way from normality. Asked last week if redesignating the mine-hazard areas would reduce insurance rates, London insurance underwriters said it would help ease concerns about shipping somewhat – but not substantially, given the area was still defined as a war zone for insurance purposes.
“Mines are a passive threat but there is an active threat, and active threats always take precedence over passive threats,” Neil Roberts of the Joint War Committee, a panel of London underwriters that assesses war threats, says.
Jordan stopped importing Iraqi oil due to worsening security situation
05 May 2008 (Iraq Directory)
Jordan stopped importing crude oil and industrial fuel from Iraq because of the inability to transfer the amounts agreed upon due to the deteriorating security situation on the international road between the two countries.
Riyad Barakat, General Manager of Al-Qawasmi company which is one of the two companies responsible for loading and unloading at Al-Karama border point, said that the quantities of imported crude oil since mid last year did not exceed five thousand tons which is equivalent to 36 thousand barrels and they only form a third of the daily needs of the Kingdom.
Jordan signed with Iraq in September 2006 a memorandum of understanding includes supplying Jordan with crude oil up to 10 to 30 percent of the daily needs and that is of around 100 thousand barrels at a preferential price. According to the memorandum Jordan has resumed on the summer of last year the import of fuel oil from Iraq by 20 tankers a day or the equivalent of 600 tons brought to the border and unloaded in the handling area inside Jordanian tanks.
Iraqi and Jordanian governments decided last month to liquidate the joint company between the two countries (the Iraqi-Jordanian Land Transport) because of the accumulation of losses of more than five years, as a result of poor transportation between the two countries after the U.S. war in 2003.
Troops mass as attack on Mosul looms
By Abdulhussain al-Khurafi
05 May 2008 (Azzaman)
The government is massing troops for an imminent attack on the northern city of Mosul, the interior minister said.
The minister Jawad al-Bolani said the government has deployed “elite units” in the city, home to nearly three million people and currently one of the most violent places in the country.
U.S. troops will assist with aerial bombardment, logistics and artillery. U.S. marines will intervene if necessary.
The battle to overtake Mosul is billed as the ‘last’ major offensive Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki intends to launch to bring the country under control.
Mosul is now a bastion of al-Qaeda whose fighters have been under extreme pressure from the so-called Sahwa (Awakening) Council, a newly formed militia of Sunni tribesmen financed by the U.S., in other Sunni-dominated areas.
Bolani said the troops sent to calm down Basra were being redeployed in Mosul.
Analysts say the battle for Mosul is expected to be one of the bloodiest since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
Mosul is a mixed city. Though predominantly Sunni Arab, it holds sizeable communities of Kurds, Christians, Shebeks and Yezidis.
“The battles in Basra are over. The armed forces and police have completed their preparedness for the battle of Mosul. The Qaeda gangs and criminals face dark future there,” the minister warned.
He predicted the attack to be swift with minimum damage and casualties.
But the analysts expected a long and difficult ‘street-to-street and house-to-house’ fight as the city is almost completely under the Qaeda and other forces resisting U.S. occupation.