KTFA:

Manu68:  What I don't understand is how they can go digital on May 1 without them going international and rate reflected on cbi website (even with the program rate although the PR would do nothing for them).

Buckeyetree:  In my opinion, I see the current waiting on a day to day basis from what we know and have seen thus far. Iraq has checked off a lot if not all the boxes including now going digital.  It will be great to see evidence of that, but the evidence might actually be the revalue to be shown.

Of course, the news that there is a lot of chatter in Iraq right now per the retired military person was very encouraging.  Someone posted about looking till after the Eid al Fitr holiday which is May 12 and 13.  Someone else had the opinion that thru mid May could be a good window which would fit with that holiday time period. Who knows, but we might wait till end of May.

No one knows exact date, but most in the forum have the feeling that it is closer to happening than ever before not just for the many dinar holders but especially for Iraqis, many living in poverty. They need the purchasing power which they do not get from a devalued program sanctioned rate. 

Supermars:  It sucks …its like they’re showing all the cards except the most important one imo …..just show the rate already …..everyone knows you’re holding that card

Don961:  Activating the economic activities of Iraq

Sunday 02nd May 2021 Baghdad: Exclusive 

A member of the Iraqi Federation of Industries, Abdulaziz Al-Khudairi confirmed that «activating economic activity between Iraq and the major economic blocs, is one of the things that contribute to activating economic activities, by investing in advanced technology for investment companies and transferring them to The country ».

He pointed out that «the form of economic relations often determines all other forms of relations, especially the political, and that the consolidation of economic relations achieves mutual benefit, which leads to the existence of real political relations resulting in benefits for all parties».

He pointed out that «some major economic blocs wish to strengthen cooperation with Iraq in order to strengthen economic work bonds in a way that achieves Common benefit.

It is noteworthy that Iraq has commercial relations with many countries of the world, which requires drawing a new map of cooperation that contributes to the development of economic sectors, benefiting from advanced technology and capital owned by specialized international companies.    LINK

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Samson:  Iraq is the seventh richest country in the Arab world, and ranked 105th in the world

2nd May, 2021
Iraq ranked seventh in the Arab world, and ranked 105 globally out of 140 countries listed in the list of the richest countries in the world for the year 2021 in terms of per capita share of GDP, according to the American CEO World magazine.

The magazine said in a report seen by Shafaq News: The State of Qatar ranked first as the richest Arab country, while it ranked 10 in the world, as the per capita share of Qatari GDP reached 59,143 thousand dollars, followed by the UAE 26 globally with a share of 35,171 thousand dollars, Kuwait 39 globally with a share of 25,290 thousand dollars and Bahrain 41 in the world, where the per capita share reached Of the GDP, 24,294 thousand dollars, then Saudi Arabia 43 globally, with a share of 22.7 thousand dollars, and Oman 51 globally, with a share of 16,212 thousand dollars, and Iraq came in seventh and ranked 105 globally, with a share of 4,632 thousand dollars.

Globally, Luxembourg was the richest country in the world in 2021, with a per capita GDP of 131,782 thousand, followed by Switzerland with a share of 94,696 thousand dollars, then Ireland with a share of 94,556 thousand dollars, then Norway with a share of 81,995 thousand, and the United States of America came in fifth place with a per capita share. With a gross domestic product of 68.309 thousand dollars, while the Ivory Coast state tops the list with 2567 thousand dollars, preceded by the state of Honduras, 2586 thousand dollars.

By gross domestic product, what is meant by the market value of all final goods and services locally in a country, that is, what is produced within the country during a specific period of time, and helps in measuring the standard of living of the individual, and the index is also a measure of the performance of the economy, so the higher the rate of GDP, the greater the size of the overall economy Thus, the total income increases, and ultimately the per capita income increases.   LINK

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Samson:  Allegedly linked to a "senior official" ... Erbil dismantles a serious kidnapping network in Baghdad

05/02/2021 15:02:23

On Sunday, the Erbil Governorate Police Directorate announced the arrest of a criminal network that was kidnapping women and children in the capital, Baghdad.

"We arrested a network whose members used to kidnap women and children, and they were saying that they belonged to a senior official in Baghdad and tribal leaders, but after arresting four of them at the beginning, everyone was reached," said Directorate spokesman Major Hawker Aziz in a press conference today.

He added that the network’s members were committing crimes at gunpoint and then bargaining with the kidnapped’s family and exchanging them for money, adding that we were notified of arrest warrants by the competent courts in Baghdad, and last Friday we arrested the main suspect in the network’s management.

The spokesman continued by saying: The process of their deportation to Baghdad is now being completed according to the joint agreement between the two parties, noting that during the year 2020, more than 183 suspects who had arrest warrants were arrested, and they were referred to the Iraqi judiciary.   LINK

Samson:   Iraq intends to seek the help of international companies to recover the smuggled money

2nd May, 2021

Iraqi officials revealed efforts to recover money smuggled outside the country, by using international companies, stressing the presence of high coordination in this direction, while MPs played down the importance of that, considering that the forces of corruption prevent any steps to recover these funds

Observers disagree about the value of the money that has been smuggled over the long years since the US occupation of Iraq in 2003, but they agree that it is sufficient to fully rebuild Iraq, provide infrastructure, job opportunities, and establish mega projects

According to the advisor to the President of the Republic, Ismail Al-Hadidi, "The President of the Republic (Barham Salih) is interested in the file of recovering smuggled funds, and there are ongoing procedures, work and coordination with Parliament, and meetings with the parliamentary legal and financial committees to enact an amendment to the law on recovering smuggled funds

Al-Hadidi said, in a statement to the local Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "Parliament has expressed its readiness to amend the current law, so that all smuggled Iraqi funds can be recovered, and soon there will be an amendment to the law and a vote on it before it. He explained that "the law includes how to recover money smuggled from abroad, in cooperation with international companies that adopt retrieval for certain wages," stressing "the need for external support, because most of the smuggled money and its smugglers are outside Iraq, and therefore there is a need for international solidarity

Al-Hadidi pointed out yesterday that "the international companies that will adopt the issue will pay their wages after recovering the smuggled money, according to legal principles," stressing that "the law must be tight and adopt the recovery of those funds, as it is an important step, and met with great interest before The President of the Republic and the Iraqi Parliament

The Iraqi president had confirmed, in early March, that he was preparing a legal code dealing with mechanisms to recover money stolen from Iraq, which are located abroad. This is his second comment in less than six months, as he had previously said, in October 2020, that Iraq is continuing to recover the stolen money and prosecute the corrupt. However, Iraqi lawmakers reduced the possibility of recovering what was smuggled, saying that "the influence and power of corruption prevents the possibility of taking any decision in this direction

"The file needs a courageous decision from the Iraqi state, with all its components, as the matter needs a political, legal and administrative decision," Ali Al-Badiri, the representative of the Iraqi coalition, told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed. He added, "Corruption has become a consuming issue, and most of the measures to curb corruption are formal, and the reason is that influential bodies have great control over the political decision in the state, and it prevents harsh and strong measures against the corrupt. He stressed that "the law in Iraq applies only to the poor. As for corruption whales, it is difficult to apply it to them, because they are influential and decision-makers, and most of the course of affairs is under their control

In turn, an official in the Iraqi Integrity Commission considered that "the stolen money cannot be recovered, unless the influential forces are eliminated, which prevent any movement in this direction. The official told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “It is known that the parties that looted these funds still have wide political and parliamentary influence. He added, "Those forces used their governmental and political influence in smuggling operations, and paid commissions to several parties and provided fake receipts, and other steps, which cost them a lot, as their political power is linked to their financial strength

He continued, "The Integrity Commission has files condemning a number of high-ranking officials and their parties to the file of smuggled funds, and some of them have been submitted to the judiciary, but have been blocked by political pressure," noting that "any step towards restoration will be doomed to failure, except in the event that those powers are disposed of." And its political and parliamentary influence

The Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi, estimated the looted funds from Iraq at about 250 billion dollars, stolen since 2003 until now, and this amount builds many countries, and these thefts have led to a decline in Iraq's economic capabilities

However, the Parliament's Integrity Committee had estimated, at the beginning of this year, the volume of smuggled funds at about 350 trillion dinars (239.7 billion dollars), a number that exceeds the country's budget for more than two years, but former member of the Parliament's Financial Committee, Rahim Al-Darraji, confirmed that the value of the looted money It amounts to about $ 450 billion   LINK