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Samson:  Topped by Arab countries.. Learn about the most expensive currencies in the world

13th July, 2022

The value of money can only be determined by comparison with the money of other countries, and in total, there are about 180 currencies in the world today. Which of them is the most expensive and most valuable?

Many people think that the dollar, the euro, or perhaps the pound sterling are the most valuable currencies, but this is not the case.

 For several years, the currencies of the Middle East countries occupy the leading positions in the list of the world's most valuable currencies.

In Kuwait the dinar, which is said to have one millionaire in every fifteen of its citizens, was able to displace the Indian rupee, which held a leading position in the Asian region.

 In 2006, it reduced Kuwait the value of its currency increased by 1% against the dollar, and because of that the exchange rate became 0.29 Kuwaiti dinars per dollar, but after only one year - in the middle of 2007 - the Kuwaiti dinar got rid of its peg to the dollar, replacing it with a basket of multiple currencies. 

Today, the Kuwaiti dinar is equal to 3.25 US dollars, to occupy the position of the most valuable currency in the world, according to the assessments of a number of research centers and international financial institutions.

In second place, comes the Bahraini dinar. It is remarkable that in the period 1966-1973, the Bahraini dinar was the national currency of the United Arab Emirates, and was later replaced by the Emirati dirham. The Bahraini dinar entered the market in 1965, replacing the Gulf rupee. In 1987, it was heavily pegged to the US dollar. Today, the price of one dinar is 2.65 dollars.

As for the third place, it was occupied by the Omani riyal, which is the official currency of the Sultanate Amman. On one side of the note there is an inscription in English, and on the other in Arabic. There are no English inscriptions on the coins. 1 Omani Rial = $2.60.

Although the Jordanian economy is one of the poorest in the Middle East. The country has few natural resources, in addition to chronic problems with unemployment, inflation and foreign debt. However, the Jordanian dinar comes in fourth place in the list of the most expensive currencies in the world. 

The Jordanian Dinar is linked to the Special Drawing Rights, which is a unit of account International Monetary Fund, which means the fact that it is pegged to the US dollar. The value of one Jordanian dinar is 1.41 US dollars.

And only in fifth place, comes the pound sterling, the official currency of Britain since 1694. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the pound sterling was the main reserve currency almost all over the world, but it lost its place as the most important currency after the end of World War II, when the American currency began to dominate the world market. Today, one pound sterling is equal to $1.20.

As for the euro, it comes in eighth place after Cayman Islands dollar, which is worth 1.2 US dollars, and after the Swiss franc which is equal to 1.04 dollars. The euro is the official currency of the European Union, and 19 countries in the eurozone use it. It appeared in cashless circulation in 1999, and since 2002 banknotes and coins have been introduced. Today, one euro is equal to approximately $1.02. 

The same is true of the Swiss franc. Although the price of the Russian ruble is much lower than the aforementioned currencies, the Russian ruble has become the best global currency to strengthen against the US dollar in 2022, according to the agency "

The US dollar, the most widely traded currency around the world, is ranked ninth in terms of its value among the world's currencies.

Bloomberg - According to the agency, despite the unprecedented Western sanctions on Russia the ruble has appreciated by 11% since the beginning of the year.  LINK

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Samson:  For the first time since April, oil is below $100

07/13/2022 08:53:31

 Oil prices fell on Wednesday, after successive declines, to reach less than $ 100 a barrel for the first time since April, while traders are looking forward to US inflation data that may weaken the market. The dollar rose to its highest level, while what China is still fighting Corona, all of which are weakening the market.

Brent crude futures were down 2 cents, or 0.02 percent, at $99.47 a barrel at 04:45 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 18 cents, or 0.19%, at $95.66.

Investors have sold off oil positions on fears that sharp increases in interest rates to stem inflation will trigger an economic slowdown that will hurt oil demand. Prices fell more than 7% on Tuesday in choppy trading. Another concern is that higher US interest rates in response to rising inflation will push the dollar higher, and also undermine oil prices.

The renewed travel restrictions for COVID-19 in China also affected the market. Many cities in the world's second-largest economy have adopted new restrictions, from business closures to broader lockdowns, in an effort to curb new infections from one of the highly contagious sub-variables of the virus. The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six peers, also rose earlier today to 108.56, its highest level since October 2002.

Oil is generally priced in US dollars, so a higher dollar makes the commodity more expensive for holders of other currencies, which puts downward pressure on demand and its dollar price. Meanwhile, markets are closely watching US President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East, where he is expected to ask Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers to increase oil production to help stabilize prices.  LINK

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Samson:  Al-Kazemi's advisor presents his vision to protect Iraq's economy from oil price fluctuations

13th July, 2022

Today, Wednesday, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, identified two factors that may stand behind the possibility of a recession in the global economy in the coming months, and as he explained the impact of this in Iraq, he proposed a solution to protect the Iraqi energy market from the fluctuations in prices of crude oil markets

Saleh told the Iraqi News Agency, "There are two factors for the possibility of the global economy heading towards economic stagnation in the coming months, as the first factor is the strict monetary policy of the strongest economy in the world, which is the economy of the United States, which will lead to the policies of raising interest rates undertaken by the US Federal Reserve to combat inflation

.  In the general level of prices in the United States, the increase in investment costs and a decline in growth in real sectors, which leads to a possibly slow decline in inflation growth, but will lead to a greater deterioration in the level of employment, higher unemployment rates and lower rates of growth in GDP

He added, "There is an objective link between high rates of economic growth and high demand for energy resources, which will contribute to the stagnation of derived demand for crude oil in the global market," noting that "the same will apply to the economies of the eurozone by following strict monetary policies to confront the frightening European inflation." Currently

He pointed out that "the second factor is the development of trends in the Chinese economy, which represents the second largest economy in the world, which has entered the phase of the Cold War with the West, which means that the growth of the Chinese economy will be indirectly affected by the global recession and various forms of economic boycott due to tension in economic relations."

The international community and its exposure to some Western commercial and technological isolation, as well as the inevitability of the Chinese economy being affected by the conditions of recession in global demand

He noted that "China's imports of Russian crude oil are currently the highest among the sources of supply, and they are discounted in value by 40% per barrel, which means abandoning part of its imports from other currently high-priced oil markets from outside Russia

He pointed out that "the aforementioned factors will undoubtedly lose the growth momentum in demand for oil energy resources in the world, which will cause some (glut) in the oil supply markets, which are highly elastic or deflationary demand factors that directly contribute to the further deterioration of prices

. The oil-exporting countries in OPEC and others, the potential glut in the oil market may cause price damage to the economy of Russia, the second oil producer in the world, whose daily production is estimated at about 11 million barrels of crude oil, most of which goes to export, to face a severe oil price war

He continued: "There is no doubt that Iraq, whose economy depends on crude oil exports, will be affected by the price drops (if they occur) and will undoubtedly cause a decrease in the country's financial returns, so a mechanism must be applied that is to go as an accelerated future view towards employing the accumulation of financial surpluses that are currently obtained and directing their spending with priority. To finance large investments in the refining sectors of giant refineries and petrochemical plants to export petroleum products, whose added value rises to between 5-7 times compared to a barrel of exported crude oil

He continued: "Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a policy of accelerated transformation from the policy of exporting crude oil to exporting oil products, in a manner that ensures the stability of the limits of Iraq's financial and economic sustainability from the fluctuations of oil markets during the next ten years

He concluded by saying: "Thus, protecting the Iraqi energy market from fears of future crude oil market price fluctuations can only be achieved by raising the added value of the crude oil itself, by adopting the policy of manufacturing oil derivatives immediately by investing in (giant refineries with various products and few losses). as agreed upon by all energy experts in Iraq  LINK

Samson:  National Security reveals the outcome of its operations against smugglers of oil derivatives and seizes more than one million liters

07/13/2022 12:08:19

 The National Security Agency revealed the outcome of its operations against smugglers of oil derivatives.

The outcome came, according to a National Security statement, as follows: 

1- More than one million liters of smuggled petroleum products were seized. 
2- The arrest of 117 people accused of smuggling.
3- Confiscation of (49) tanks and vehicles intended for smuggling.
4- Seizing (93) nests. 
5- Seizing (496) tanks that were used for storing and selling oil derivatives, in violation of fundamentalist controls.
6- Closing (11) stations for violating regulations or exploiting the crisis.  LINK

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Samson:  4 zeros were removed from it.. Iran launches new two-denomination banknotes

13th July, 2022

Today, Wednesday, the Iranian market entered the new 1000 and 2000 toman banknotes, where 4 zeros were deleted.

These banknotes were printed at the time of the former director general of the Central Bank and signed at that time, according to the semi-official Iranian agency, "Fars".

In the upper part of these banknotes, the zeros are seen in a faint color, while in the lower part of these banknotes they have been completely deleted. LINK