Iraqi Dinar Value-Iraqi Dinar Exchange Rate - Buying Iraqi Dinar

Iraqi Dinar Value Is Still Controlled By Iraq Central Bank Via Daily Auction System

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 19:08:00 +0000

The Iraqi dinar is the official currency of Iraq. The nation stays largely isolated from global financial markets. The nation has no real sovereign credit, there is small need for its money which stays thinly traded. All Iraqi property, including its money are viewed as currently being a very great financial risk. The Iraqi dinar value, or the Iraqi dinar exchange rate, is effectively determined through the central bank through it's US currency auctions. The Iraq dinar was initially launched in 1932 when Iraq grew to become independent from British rule. The dinar changed the Indian rupee that had been launched by the British following winning control of Iraq from Turkey in WWI. The Iraqi dinar continues to be a managed or controlled currency throughout its existence.

Initially, when it was first placed into circulation, the Iraqi dinar was pegged towards the British pound. By 1959 Iraqi nationwide wealth had proved to be more and more coupled with oil. Oil was priced and traded globally in terms from the US currency, so the Iraqi currency peg was altered within the path of the US dollar and stays so today. After the initial US Gulf Struggle and the imposition of UN financial sanctions, financial conditions inside Iraq worsened sharply. By 1993, inflation had rocketed to an amazing yearly rate of more than 1000 percent, unemployment was at a massive fifty percent and also the Iraqi dinar exchange rate dropped considerably. Throughout 1994, it required about 2,500 dinars to buy one US dollar. To help the dinar, numerous measures had been launched in 1996 such as new regulations allowing Iraqi citizens to own overseas money financial institution accounts.

Following the 2nd Gulf War, new preparations had been created to take effect on 15 October 2003 to issue a new Iraqi dinar and to manage the Iraqi dinar exchange rate. Since those new arrangements have been launched, the Iraqi dinar value has steadily increased. The current exchange rate is 1,170 dinars for 1 US dollar. Figures published through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in its World Fact Book display the number of Iraqi dinars needed to purchase 1 US dollar was at 1,475 dinars in 2005, 1,466 in 2006, 1,255 in 2007, 1,176 in 2008 and 1,170 in 2009. All indicators point to the presently prevailing exchange rate gradually increasing in the not too distant future.

Iraq just lately quantified its confirmed raw oil reserves at 143 billion barrels, in comparison with Saudi Arabia with 265 billion barrels of confirmed reserves. The nice part about these reserves are that they are effortlessly accessible and as a result the oil is cheap to produce. Roughly 95% of all Iraqi export value is derived from crude oil.

In the long run, as political balance returns to Iraq, its financial programs gains efficiencies and its citizens capture the full value of the national crude oil wealth, the Iraqi dinar value might be anticipated to strengthen considerably over its current trading valuations.

There are other sources and articles on the subject of Iraqi dinar value listed below.

Iraqi Dinar Value - The Dollar While Weak Is Still King, Even In Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:17:00 +0000

Interesting article on the supposed fall of the dollar and the possible replacement by other currencies as the world currency of choice. The Iraqi Dinar could be worth even more than expected.

Globally, the Greenback Remains King

The Wall Street Journal

October 29, 2009

The U.S. dollar, once universally accepted as the world's strongest currency, has been trounced in recent months by everything from the euro to the Brazilian real to the South Korean won. But in the back-alley markets where business is done in many of the world's developing economies, the dollar still reigns.

In jewelry stores in Vietnam, taxicabs in Venezuela and outdoor markets in Nigeria, black-market money-changers say the dollar is still the currency of choice, even though its value has fallen in some cases.

"The U.S. dollar is losing value, but not here in Vietnam," said Vu Manh Quynh, an auto trader who regularly exchanges dong for dollars in the winding streets of Hanoi's Old Quarter. "Vietnamese people still keep U.S. dollars and gold." While the U.S. dollar fetches 17,858 dong on the official rates, the black market rate is closer to 18,600. Hai Duong, a currency trader, said he had 20 or more customers buying U.S. dollars on a recent Wednesday, compared with two customers buying euros.

While their true size is unknown, black markets in currencies are key to greasing the wheels of commerce in countries that have tight currency controls. They provide residents and companies with protection against inflation or a possible devaluation of the local currency, and give companies a source of dollars with which to buy and sell goods abroad. In most countries, the markets are illegal, while in others they are tacitly condoned.

"Typically, dollars are king in the black markets of the world," says Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics at Harvard University and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.

Prof. Rogoff estimates that as much as 75% of U.S. notes in circulation, or more than $600 billion, are held outside the U.S. Most of that is likely in what he calls the underground economy, where transactions are made beyond the oversight of government -- much of which is juiced by the black market.

"This money is not in cash registers, it's not in bank vaults," Prof. Rogoff says.

In the world's official foreign-exchange markets, where turnover totals about $3 trillion each day, according to the Bank for International Settlements, the dollar's luster has diminished. The dollar, for example, has fallen about 6% against the euro this year. The dollar has dropped about 15% against a basket of currencies since early March.

The ballooning U.S. deficit and a move by investors away from the haven of the dollar as world economies recover have sparked worries that the currency may be headed for a years-long swoon. It also has opened the door for renewed questioning of the dollar's future as the world's reserve currency.

For Venezuelans, where the black market plays a crucial role in the financial system, the dollar has retained its status. Residents seeking protection against inflation or a devaluation of the bolivar turn to currency traders. Large companies that need dollars for operations abroad also visit the unregulated market.

View Full Image

Justin Mott for The Wall Street Journal

."Having dollars is like a barricade," says Arnaldo Morales, a cabby who moonlights as a currency trader, buying dollars from travelers as they enter the country, then selling them to Venezuelans.

Mr. Morales says he has been trading dollars since 2003, when President Hugo Chávez imposed a currency peg. Residents can purchase only $2,500 for travel abroad each year at the official rate of 2.15 bolivars.

The economy has become so heavily dependent on the so-called parallel exchange rate for greenbacks that the government was recently forced to intervene after the dollar traded as high as seven bolivars in August. The government is flooding the domestic market with dollars by selling bonds to locals who then trade them abroad for U.S. currency.

"The dollar will always be strong," says Andrea Martinez, a trader who dismissed as temporary the recent decline in the black-market rate. Ms. Martinez operates inside a tiny, nondescript mall where shotgun-carrying private-security guards wearing bulletproof vests watch over rows of pawn shops that serve as a front for dollar traders. On a good day, she says, she still sells as much as $5,000.

In Nigeria, sub-Sahara Africa's second-largest economy, currency traders still deal predominantly in American currency. The black-market traders even have their own trade group, the Association of Bureaux de Change Operators of Nigeria.

"The dollar still has dominance in Nigeria," said Alhaji Farouk Suleman, the president of the group. "The exchange rate might not be good, but you know what you're dealing with and that you can use the dollar anywhere you go. I don't see any real shift towards the pound or euro."

The Nigerian naira, after plummeting late last year and earlier this year, has stabilized against the dollar, thanks to renewed confidence after harsh banking reforms undertaken by a new central bank governor. The dollar was fetching 183 naira in the spring, but now buys about 153 naira.

But the dollar's descent against the world's biggest currencies hasn't gone unnoticed.

On the streets of Mumbai, illegal currency traders that swap wads of cash from bags behind their shops in the bustling back alleys of Colaba, a neighborhood popular with tourists, say business has been slow recently. The dollar's decline has sellers waiting for a rebound and buyers waiting for a better deal.

"Business is way down," says one trader, spitting a stream of red betel-nut juice in the alley behind his shop and wiping his moustache. "People still want to wait." The dollar buys 47 rupees at licensed currency-trading companies and 46.70 rupees on the black market.

And at the Super Rich currency exchange near one of Bangkok's busiest downtown thoroughfares, Thaweesak Kanchanakorn says he and his girlfriend are planning to vacation in the U.S., and that he thought it might be a good idea to invest in dollars now, because they're "cheap." In the long run, "I don't think the U.S. dollar will still be a major currency for reserves anymore," he said. China's yuan "will take its place."

For now, those seeking to exchange bolivars or dong are choosing the U.S. dollar, if only because it remains the most recognizable of the world's currencies.

In Iraq, where legal currency exchanges have become common, the U.S. presence since 2003 has kept up demand for the dollar at the expense of the euro.

Ali Mohammed of the Al Nasir currency-exchange company said that although the world market value of the euro has risen, it is difficult to exchange in Baghdad. And the dollar likely will be Iraq's unofficial second currency for some time to come. The dollar fetched about 1,190 dinars in September, according to central bank figures, little changed from 1,220 dinars at the beginning of 2008.

"It's the only thing used, besides the Iraqi dinar, for commercial business and trade," he said. "As long as it stays pretty stable, we don't mind this."

Carlos Denis, who trades in the Venezuelan mall alongside Ms. Martinez, insists that the dollar is still the only currency that matters. "Take out a dollar bill in the remotest place in world and people will recognize it," he said.

-- Eric Bellman in India, Gina Chon in Iraq and Wilawan Watcharasakwet
in Thailand contributed

to this article.

Iraqi Dinar Value - Political first: Samurai sent to al-Maliki proposed settlement of Kuwaiti reparations

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Political first: Samurai sent to al-Maliki proposed settlement of Kuwaiti reparations

Speaker for the "morning": the United Nations and the Kuwaiti side and most of the political blocs supported the project

Baghdad morning

Speaker announced by Dr. Iyad al-Samarrai said the proposal to transfer the Kuwaiti reparations implications on the country's investments is before the government to adopt the appropriate resolution after the creation of the parliament floor appropriate to it, especially with the presence of Kuwaiti and internationalist support for this project.

Samarrai said in a statement to the "morning" that "Kuwaiti officials, headed by the Prince and Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Deputies of the nation and known for their criticism of the Iraq welcomed and agreed to the idea put forward to address the issue of compensation through the establishment of a fund for the reconstruction of Iraq, including an administrative body and advisers from the Iraqi side, and go compensation fund for Kuwait for the Fund for the implementation of the Kuwaiti investments directly or lending Iraqi investors to implement projects or provide assistance to infrastructure projects in the country."

President al-Samarrai had visited Kuwait last July and held talks described as positive with the Amir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, also sent a formal invitation to National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi to visit Baghdad, and discussed with Kuwaiti Prime Minister and his deputy, the consolidation of joint cooperation and ways to extinguish the debt and compensation Kuwait .

And the speaker said, "This idea is now before the government to adopt the appropriate decision thereon being concerned that the development of the idea to the project work, particularly that the House is not an executive to take steps in this direction, but made for a conviction and his effort to seek political in this regard", pointing out "The idea has been welcomed by the United Nations represents the options works because Kuwait had a surplus of money and are looking for investment because the future (Kuwait) is linked with the economic success of the implementation of future investments to ensure cost-effective post-oil era."

He Samurai "there is no objection from any political party for the idea of Iraq for the compensation fund because the entry of investments into the country from around the world is a requirement for all political blocs," noting that "the idea of Kuwait will employ its investments in its favor in the fields of agricultural, industrial and other sectors will be integrated with the Kuwaiti economy and the most important elements of success in the project, where the two interest rates prevail. "

In the same file, sources familiar with the "morning", the President of the Parliament sent a letter to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, including a report on the idea put forward during his visit to Kuwait recently on the transfer of compensation to Kuwaiti investments and NOC officials there of the proposal. "

The sources said the message Samarrai urged the Government to respond quickly to resolve differences between the two sides through dialogue with a view to secure an exit from Iraq under Chapter VII, noting that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his part sent a message to Iraq and Kuwait in this regard in order to consider the proposal of conversion compensation to the investment.

Iraqi Dinar Value - Biden Pushes Iraqi Leaders On Vote Law, Oil-Bid Perks

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:23:00 +0000

Biden Pushes Iraqi Leaders On Vote Law, Oil-Bid Perks

By Scott Wilson

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, September 17, 2009

BAGHDAD, Sept. 16 -- Vice President Biden pressed Iraqi leaders Wednesday to approve as quickly as possible legislation that establishes rules for the planned January general election and to make the next round of bids to develop Iraqi oil concessions more attractive to foreign investors.

In a series of meetings in the Green Zone, Biden listened to the concerns of Iraqi leaders, now in the heat of an election season that Obama administration officials acknowledge will delay until after the vote any progress on such pressing issues as passing a law on the equitable distribution of national oil revenue among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

A senior administration official said Biden also made his interests known on a variety of issues, such as the need for the Iraqi parliament to adopt laws to better protect foreign investment and leaving unchanged the terms of the timetable for the withdrawal of the 130,000 U.S. troops now in the country.

This is Biden's second visit to Iraq in two months, and it comes as the Obama administration is trying to manage a growing Iraqi impatience with the U.S. military presence here. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom Biden met with Wednesday evening, has expressed support for a proposed referendum that would hasten by a year the 2011 withdrawal deadline for all U.S. forces in Iraq.

U.S. military and diplomatic officials fear that a rapid departure could undermine the security gains realized over the past year, and in his meetings Biden asked Iraqi officials whether they thought the referendum would proceed. But Biden is reluctant to be seen as meddling in a domestic Iraqi issue, and a senior administration official said the vice president operated largely in "listening mode."

Speaking next to Biden at his official residence, Maliki said U.S. forces had complied with the terms of the agreement outlining the schedule for the troop withdrawal and the training of Iraqi forces with "high credibility."

Biden reiterated the terms of the withdrawal timeline. The senior administration official said the two men's statements mean "that we have a mutual interest in moving forward" under the conditions set out in the agreement.

Biden also appealed to Iraqi leaders to offer more financial incentives for foreign investors to bid on Iraqi oil concessions; only one bid of the eight put out this year was accepted. The administration official estimated that one additional deal would translate into $50 billion to $60 billion in foreign investment in Iraq, generate $600 million in annual revenue and create tens of thousands of jobs in the country.

The official said Biden would deliver the same message to Kurdish leaders in meetings scheduled for Thursday. Kurds' interest in ensuring what they see as a fair share of proceeds from the rich oil fields of Iraq's north has presented an obstacle to a revenue-sharing agreement. Reaching a deal is crucial to Iraq's oil-dependent economy, but the goal has been politically elusive for years.

"In an election season in any country, it's difficult to make definitive progress on any issue, and these are difficult issues," the official said, adding that Biden's hope is for the next Iraqi government to be "in good position" to move on the oil legislation and other matters soon after the election.

In all his meetings, Biden asked Iraqi officials to assess their progress on an election law, concerned that without one in place soon the January vote will not be able to proceed. The official said he particularly pressed Ayad al-Samarraie, speaker of the Iraqi parliament, because the law is a legislative matter.

Biden and Maliki expressed hope that the Iraq Business and Investment Conference scheduled to be held in Washington next month would encourage private U.S. investment in Iraq. But the administration source said Biden told Iraqi leaders that regulatory and other financial protections need to be enacted to make foreign investors more comfortable doing business here.

Some of the proposed protections are before parliament, the official said, and their passage would allow, among other things, for the Overseas Private Investment Corp. to extend loan guarantees to companies wishing to do business in Iraq.

iraqi dinar value - Iraq Oil “Drill Baby Drill” part 2

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:35:00 +0000

Iraq Oil “Drill Baby Drill” part 2

This last February 2009 Iraq Drilling Co. signed and completed the creation of joint venture with the British Mesopotamia Petroleum called Iraq Oil Service Co. (IOSCO).

This new company will purchase twelve drilling rigs as well as secure drilling contracts in the fields controlled by South Oil Company (SOC), Oil Exploration Company (OEC), Missan Oil Company (MOC) and Northern Oil Company (NOC), all state owned organizations in Iraq.

IOSCO will be drilling at least 60 drills per year. These activities should bring a 120,000 barrels increase in the country’s daily oil production during the first year. The first fields where there will be new drills are Fakka, Bazargan and Halfaya.

Iraq Drilling Co. and Mesopotamia Petroleum, which hold 51 percent and 49 percent of the joint venture respectively, decided to invest $400 million in the new company. As part of this investment, Mesopotamia Petroleum will supply the joint venture with integrated methods and technologies aimed at boosting production.

An oil drilling tender was held on December 31, 2008, where 35 international firms joined. In April 2009, the Ministry of Oil announced a list of nine investors selected to participate in the negotiations for drilling contracts, including KazMunaiGaz (Kazakhstan), Rosneft and Tatneft (Russia), PetroVietnam, Pakistan Petroleum, Sonangol (Angola), Jogmec (Japan), Cairn Energy Plc (UK) and Oil India.

The winning bids were announced at the end of June 2009. Winning bidders will be awarded service contracts under which Baghdad will pay them a certain fee, and offer production sharing contracts which would involve the sharing of profits.

Despite the Ministry of Oil’s efforts to bring international investments to Iraq, contractors remain sceptical on the country’s ability to complete the implementation of these projects. The problems lay not in money or security issues, but the process of decision making, as Iraq’s government is still not stable and solid.

The country’s inability to complete the implementation of contract procedures has been a long-term saga putting obstacles in the rehabilitation of the oil industry. Back in 2004, Weatherford, a US company, had won a contract for 60 wells which was never completed. Yes, that was 5 years ago, we will see if the massive amount of new contract agreeements get drilled out.

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Article may be reprinted online and offline as long

as this box remains and hyperlinked online. Written

by Darren Chabluk for http://DrDinar.com/blog

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Iraqi Dinar Value - Civil war in Iraq is still a real possibility

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Civil war in Iraq is still a real possibility

REALPOLITIK: David Pratt

ISN'T IT strange the way we seem to have taken our eye off the ball when it comes to events in Iraq? Preoccupied with the growing violence and rising British casualty rate in Afghanistan, suddenly it seems we have no appetite for news coming out of places like Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk and Mosul. It was not always like this, of course. Barely a few years ago Afghanistan was dubbed the "forgotten war" as world attention focused on defeating the insurgency in Iraq.

Today it is a different story, with our coverage only picking up when the death toll cannot be ignored. This was graphically illustrated last week when TV pictures showed the effects of bomb and mortar attacks that killed 95 people and wounded more than 500 in Baghdad.
Beyond these images of carnage, however, there is a distinct lack of incisive behind-the-headlines coverage precisely at the moment when Iraq's ethnic and religious faultlines once again appear to be cracking.

The implications of this fracturing could be profound not only for Iraq and its people but for the ongoing war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, recently bolstered by US and British troops redeployed there after the draw-down in Iraq.

As any intelligence analyst will confirm, it is often the accumulation of small details from comparatively insignificant individual events that point to the bigger long-term picture.
For example, take the seemingly run-of-the-mill report from Iraq last Friday about the discovery of a member of the Kurdish Peshmerga security forces found riddled with bullets in west Mosul. By Iraq's standards, nothing particularly unusual there, you might say. But this latest fatality is one of more than 100 deaths in mixed Arab-Kurdish areas over the past month.
While last week's explosion of violence in Baghdad appeared to be motivated by the now familiar - albeit still worrying - sectarian conflict between Shia and Sunni insurgents, there are now other potentially more dangerous battle lines being drawn across the country. Most notably, that between Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdish government based in the northern city of Erbil. At the core of this stand-off lie the Kurdish government's plans to expand the land under its control and the oil reserves it contains. Baghdad is unlikely to stand idly by and let this happen.

Last month, it was hoped that Iraqi Kurdistan's landmark election might ease the tension in this dispute over resources and territory, but the death toll on the ground suggests otherwise. Observers now consistently refer to the Arab-Kurdish "trigger-line", while US defence secretary Robert Gates recently identified the dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds as the single biggest threat to the country's stability.

Any confrontation with Baghdad arouses intense passions among Kurds who still remember Saddam Hussein's genocidal assaults such as Operation Anfal, which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in the 1980s. While three years ago it was the Sunni-Shia divide that threatened to plunge Iraq into civil war, today it is this old antagonism between Arab and Kurd that could tip the country over the edge.

Not surprisingly, in an effort to defuse this mounting tension, the US military is proposing to deploy troops for the first time in a strip of disputed territory in northern Iraq. Last Monday, the top American general in Iraq, Ray Odierno, said US troops would be stationed alongside Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga militiamen in the province of Nineveh, near oil-rich Kirkuk, the scene of several recent high-profile bombings and shootings like that of the Kurdish Peshmerga soldier on Friday.

While Odierno insists the US involvement will not be "full-on", it must be the last thing Washington needs as it struggles to keep tabs on the situation in Baghdad and commit to containing the Taliban threat in Afghanistan in the wake of controversial elections there. So much for President Barack Obama's hopes of having all US combat troops out of Iraq within 12 months.

For the moment, any proper lasting peace remains a pipe dream for many ordinary Iraqis and it will stay that way if the security situation is once again allowed to unravel. These days, from Mosul to Baghdad, the countless individual killings of Kurd and Arab, Sunni and Shia often fail to make the headlines. But be under no illusions, their cumulative impact could yet drag Iraq into the abyss.

Buy Iraqi Dinar - Iraq: Arrests made in ministry truck bombings

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:51:00 +0000

Iraq: Arrests made in ministry truck bombings

Story Highlights

Wednesday bombings of Finance, Foreign Affairs ministries killed more than 100

Iraqi official says suspects were arrested two hours after attacks

11 high-ranking security officials from the Iraqi army and police detained,
August 21, 2009 -- Updated 2003 GMT (0403 HKT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi government said Friday it has arrested members of a cell believed responsible for Wednesday's truck bombings in which more than 100 people were killed.

Workers clear the site outside the ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs in Baghdad.

Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, appeared on Iraqi state television Friday night to announce the arrests, which he said were made within two hours of the bombings in the capital city. Those arrested include people believed to have planned and executed the attacks, Atta said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were arrested.
Initial investigations show a link between the cell and the ousted Baath regime of Saddam Hussein, Atta said. Authorities are also seeking people thought to have provided cell members with logistical support and identification, he said.

Iraq Security Forces recovered a truck Friday with five tons of C-4 explosives in the Abu Ghraib area, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, Atta said Friday night.

More than 500 people were wounded Wednesday in the six explosions in Baghdad.

In one attack, a truck bomb exploded outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The blast blew through the front of the building, sending some vehicles flying and leaving others in mangled twists of metal in the area, which is just outside the restricted International Zone, also known as the Green Zone. Another truck bomb went off outside the Ministry of Finance building.

Authorities said Thursday that 11 high-ranking security officials from the Iraqi army and police were detained for investigation.

The Iraqi government in the past has made claims of arrests that did not hold up. In April, it said it had captured Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq's umbrella group, the Islamic State of Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq denied it, and the capture was never confirmed by the U.S. military.

The explosions made Wednesday the country's deadliest day since the United States pulled its combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns nearly two months ago and left security in the hands of the Iraqis. The U.S. military remains in a training and advisory capacity in those areas and continues to conduct combat operations outside cities and towns.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered increased security measures, including more checkpoints and more stringent vehicle searches across the capital, government officials said on Thursday.

The Iraqi government has been trying to restore what it described as normalcy to the streets of the capital in recent weeks. Al-Maliki ordered his government to take down within 40 days the concrete blast walls that line Baghdad's streets and protected neighborhoods at the height of the war. Many Iraqis have criticized the move as premature.

iraqi dinar value - Iraq attacks threaten stability claims

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:26:00 +0000

Iraq attacks threaten stability claims

By Magdi Abdelhadi BBC Arab affairs analyst

There is clearly a sense that violence in Iraq has been on the way up since the American troops pulled out of urban centres at the end of June.

But it is still not as high as it used to be three years ago, when the country appeared to be on the brink of an all-out sectarian war between the majority Shia and Sunni insurgents.

However, the frequency of the recent attacks - and the fact that the latest blasts hit the heart of government in central Baghdad, will raise questions about the competence of the Iraqi security services as well as about the motives.

Whether it is primarily sectarian or not, the apparent aim of the violence has almost always been to destabilise Iraq and show the government losing control.

This view appears to be even more plausible now as Iraqi politicians have begun preparing for forthcoming parliamentary elections due early next year.

Should continued violence force a change to those plans, this would be a serious blow to President Obama, who has made orderly military disengagement from Iraq one of his top foreign policy priorities.

Increased violence could in theory make it difficult for parties in the current governing coalition to claim that they have made Iraq safe again.

This has led some analysts to conclude that those behind the recent attacks are not only the usual suspects - al-Qaeda or former Baathists - but also political players who want scupper Prime Minister Nuri Maliki's hopes for another electoral victory.

If the current level of violence persists or, worse still, escalates, and American troops are called upon to intervene, this could seriously undermine claims that Iraq was on the right track to genuine independence.

Aside from the human cost of the violence, the main losers would be Mr Maliki and his coalition partners from the Shia majority, who have been the main beneficiaries of the new political order in Iraq.

Continued or increased violence could also easily increase the risk of wider regional troubles, with Iraq's neighbours backing one group against its rivals to ensure an outcome favourable to their national interests.

Iraq and Washington had agreed that all American troops will have withdrawn by the end of 2011.

Should continued violence force a change to those plans, this would be a serious blow to US President Barack Obama, who has made orderly military disengagement from Iraq one of his top foreign policy priorities.

Iraqi Dinar Value - Shattered in Baghdad blasts: Iraqi faith in security forces

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:26:00 +0000

Shattered in Baghdad blasts: Iraqi faith in security forces

From street sweepers to Foreign Ministry guards, Iraqis say their countrymen are falling short of their duty to protect them.

By Jane Arraf Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Baghdad - At the site of the deadliest Baghdad bombing in 18 months, Iraqi faith that their security forces could protect them lay shattered in the wreckage.

Outside the Foreign Ministry in central Baghdad, residents and security people gathered around tangled heaps of the frames of burned cars, some of them still smoldering into the evening.
"Iraqi security forces aren't strong enough – you see the police talking on their cellphones and listening to music," said Harath, a Foreign Ministry guard sitting under the dangling wires of a broken light fixture.

The ministry had been evacuated just after a truck packed with an estimated ton of explosives detonated, killing 59 people and wounding 150, but eight hours later Fatima Abdullah Sharif was still searching for her daughter Zainab, a ministry employee.

"Have you heard anything about her?" she asked each passerby in an anguished voice. "I've been looking for her since this morning."

Zainab, one of Fatima's three children, had returned temporarily to Baghdad two months ago from her job at the Iraqi consulate in Mexico. "I worked so hard to raise them," sobbed Fatima, explaining that her husband died 12 years ago.

Many of the dead and wounded were ministry officials. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zubari, who was not in Baghdad when the bombs hit, flew back from the Kurdish capital of Arbil and went to hospitals to visit the wounded after landing.

'I would prefer the US troops stay'

The ministry, surrounded by high concrete walls on a busy street, was near a checkpoint that had been dismantled earlier this year. As attacks in Baghdad have decreased, Iraqi authorities eager to show improvement in security and make the city livable again have started removing concrete walls and security checkpoints.

"We all know our security isn't perfect. We saw a big truck in the security camera," said Hawree Talabani, an employee in the IT department at the ministry. Blood seeped through a bandage wrapped around his head. "How can you drive a truck with a ton of explosives up here?"
Across the street, near the blackened branches of trees that caught fire in the explosions, policeman Hameed Eid explained why as he examined the tangled metal that was the remains of his car.

"They removed the checkpoint and we have no scanning devices for explosives," he said. "I would prefer to keep the concrete walls. I would prefer that the American troops stay but the Iraqis and the Iraqi political parties can't agree among themselves about it."

Hallmarks of Al Qaeda in Iraq

Thousands of US combat troops who had patrolled Baghdad with their Iraqi counterparts pulled back to the main US base outside the city in line with a June 30 deadline under the US-Iraqi joint security agreement. The move, a prelude to the complete withdrawal of US forces by the end of 2011, has raised concerns that Al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups are creeping back into the city.

The US military says it was asked for and provided aerial surveillance after the attacks for intelligence gathering, medical evacuation, and forensic help to try to piece together who was responsible.

The coordinated attack, on the anniversary of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in 2003, with its size and sophistication, had the hallmarks of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

"These attacks represent a reaction to the opening of streets and bridges and the lifting of barriers inside the residential areas," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement. He blamed Al Qaeda in Iraq and former Baathists, as did many of the Iraqis in the streets.

"Only the Baathists would do this – they like destruction," said Saad Kamal Rahim al-Saadi, a street sweeper in an orange vest who was making a futile attempt to clear shattered glass.
"Not everything that happens is because of the Baathists," disagreed Abu Isa, a driver. "The Baathists themselves are afraid right now. If I was a security person I would protect the people – they're not doing their jobs."

'No one from the government has come here'

Another Iraqi in the gathering crowd, a shopkeeper, said he believed the United States and Israel were behind the bombings, because they wanted an excuse for American troops to stay.
Sardar Khorsheed, one of the Kurdish security people at the nearby parliament building, sat on the edge of the giant crater where the truck bomb had exploded.

"When the Americans were here there were no big explosions," he said, but added that that didn't mean he wanted the American troops to return.

Some of the anger of Iraqis was directed at the Iraqi government.

"No one from the government has come down here," said Henna al-Tamimmi, who lives in one of the blocks of apartments across the street. She said her windows were blown out, the doors hanging off her hinges, and the furniture in pieces. "It looks like the explosion happened in our house – where are we going to sleep tonight? All Iraqi officials do is go on television and say they have everything under control."

Iraqi Dinar Value - Supplementary Budget Shows Deficit of Iraqi Dinar 3.9 Trillion

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:29:00 +0000

I guess we aren't the only ones that believe in huge deficits, is it possible the greatest US export is unsound financial planning?

http://www.edinarfinancial.net/news/?quer=&nm=&ny=&nn=601

Supplementary budget shows deficit of Iraqi dinar 3.9 trillion

July 29, 2009

“The supplementary budget, submitted to our committee, has an Iraqi dinar 5.3 trillion deficit. The committee believes that there is no need to present a supplementary budget with such a huge deficit,” Alaa al-Sadoon said.

On July 19, the Iraqi cabinet approved a draft supplementary budget for the current year, prepared by the Finance Ministry. The budget was planned to be devoted to provinces suffering from lack of allocations.(Source)Aswat Iraq

Iraqi Dinar Exchange Rate - Iraq Getting Back To Normal After US Withdrawl Raises Hopes For Iraqi Dinar Increase

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:27:00 +0000

Baghdad getting back to normal after US withdrawal...

From Al Jazeera

It was late Thursday afternoon when my friend Amal called to talk about our weekend plans. For the past several months, we had grown accustomed to 'hanging out' at the bustling shopping centres in my neighbourhood, the Al-Saydiyah district in southwest Baghdad.
But just three years ago, violence and a lack of security in Baghdad and the rest of the country would have made such leisurely activities impossible.

People were unable to leave their homes except to buy food and seek emergency medical attention; the number of government-imposed curfews meant it was unsafe to even cross the street to a pharmacy.

Life was particularly difficult for women who were intimidated by militia groups into wearing long sleeves and head scarves. Men avoided wearing the latest fashions fearing attacks by over-zealous armed groups.

Between 2006 and 2007, Al-Saydiyah turned into a ghost-town as the once-famous shopping district in my neighbourhood shut down.

Despite the kidnappings, executions and bomb attacks it was the summer heat and lack of electricity which proved to be our deadliest enemies.
We were barely able to provide blocks of ice to keep drinking water cold through blazing summer days.

During the night, we escaped the heat by sleeping on the roof of the house but even that came to an abrupt halt when the sound of bullets and shooting would wake us up and we would frantically hurry downstairs carrying our mattress and pillows.

But as security improved in the past year-and-a-half, many residents of Baghdad began to emerge from the darkness, aware that they had survived the violence which nearly tore their capital apart.

My once-volatile neighbourhood is now flourishing slowly day by day with police forces deployed everywhere, inspiring a sense of security and relief.

Illuminating the darkness

The solar-powered street lights in central Baghdad flicker on shortly after sunset, illuminating the darkness that once brought fear to the capital.

These days, sundown is a time to celebrate. Cars jam Karrada Street in central Baghdad as fashionable young Iraqi men and women cruise the streets.

Families burst into clothing shops in the Mansour, Al-Adhamiyah, Baya'a, and Jama'a neighbourhoods, which were once the battlefields between different armed groups.
Tea houses and restaurants now host parties and wedding receptions. Liberal-minded youth seek out a handful of nightclubs and bars scattered around the city.

As security has improved and curfews have eased, Baghdad's once-famous nightlife has slowly re-emerged. It is now a symbol of normal times returning to a city long brutalised by war and still tormented by bombings.

The capital's residents have adopted carpe diem as their daily motto, in contrast to the violence of 2006-2007, when according to one resident "people locked their doors at 4pm and huddled at home".

Abu Nawas Park has been rebuilt and is undergoing renovation and refurbishment. With its flora and colourful benches, it offers Iraqis a pleasant venue to socialise despite the soaring temperatures of summer.

Fast food popularity

Fast food restaurants and snack canteens can now be found throughout Baghdad. One such restaurant is Crispy, which provides western dishes in Al-Wathiq Square. It is usually very crowded throughout the night and has been one of the favourite spots for my friends and I to frequent.

Nightclubs, which were closed in 1994 when Saddam Hussein, the deposed president, tried to woo Islamist support after the first Gulf War, have recently re-opened and are once again holding parties that last well into the pre-dawn hours.

The customers do not seem to care how much money they spend at these establishments, believing the chance to relax and unwind is well worth the cost.

One such place called Bayarat Al-Sham in the Al-Jadriyah district south of Baghdad has been particularly popular in recent months; it was nearly destroyed in the early years of the war but has now been completely remodelled.

Cautious optimism

Many Iraqis celebrated the US withdrawal from their cities. But Iraqis cannot help looking over their shoulders every once in a while. Going out at night carries a sense of optimism as well as apprehension, particularly following the recent upsurge in violence.

A bomb targeting civilians just a few weeks ago killed several people including students who had just finished their final exams and were returning home from Sadr City.

However, the violence has not stalled the constant procession of patrons to restaurants, nightclubs or liquor stores. In the past few decades, through war and strife, Iraqis developed a unique characteristic, learning how to live in heaven and hell simultaneously.

Young Iraqi men and women have also developed new ways to approach the opposite sex. When I was walking home the other day, I saw a young man giving what appeared to be his business card to a young girl.

But it wasn't a business card at all - young Iraqi men have started printing cards with their names and contact details which they then hand over to the young ladies who have caught their fancy.

Suddenly, a gust of air blew the card out of the young man's hand leaving him embarrassed as people stopped and stared. I considered this to be a healthy indication that life was slowly returning to normal in Baghdad.

Surviving the worst

For the most part, many Iraqis believe that Baghdad has survived the worst and are cautiously optimistic about the US withdrawal from the country's urban centres.

Noor Hasan, a 20-year-old medical student, believes that the US military withdrawal is "just a first step toward a better future".

Her father, an engineer in the ministry of industry, urges patience.
"We can't get everything at once. People are belittling this [withdrawal] step on the pretext that Americans are still there in the suburbs, but I believe that they are going to leave the country completely when the right moment comes."

But some believe US forces will always play a central role Iraq.

"They crossed hundreds of thousands of miles, and lost many of their soldiers to occupy Iraq. That withdrawal is only a show, something on paper, and will never materialise into something real," Nadia Abdulraheem, an employee in a health club, told me on June 30 as the US troops began to withdraw from Iraqi cities.

Shopping! I met Amal ten minutes after she called and spent the next three hours going from boutique to boutique trying on the latest imported fashions.

After an exhaustive shopping spree, we decided to take a short break and headed to one of the many cafeterias dotting the Al-Saydiyah district - she had a fruit cocktail and I opted for some ice cream.

By the time I decided to return home, the streets were quickly filling with shoppers and families looking for a cool escape from the summer heat.

Faiza Ali is the pseudonym of a young writer who requested that her real name not be used for fear of repercussions. She is a graduate from the department of linguistics at Baghdad University.

Iraqi Dinar Exchange Rate - Iraq: The Energy Battle Heats Up

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:31:00 +0000

Now that US forces are leaving Iraq, Its Time for some of that Iraqi Tea, that bubbling crude to start paying off?

Iraq: The Energy Battle Heats Up

Stratfor Today » June 26, 2009 1124 GMT
ALI YUSSEF/

Summary:

Iraq's oil minister is being forced to defend himself against various charges stemming from the country's stagnant oil production. The charges come during a period of heightening tensions over oil among Iraq's feuding Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions. Ultimately, it will probably be up to an outside power to manage this political maelstrom - and of these powers, Turkey is the one to watch.

Analysis:

Iraq's OilIraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani returned to the Iraqi parliament on June 25 to defend himself against a multitude of complaints from parliamentarians involving such issues as Iraq's declining oil output, its languishing hydrocarbons law and the corruption and mismanagement of the Iraqi oil industry's profits.

Due to a steep drop in once record-high crude prices over the past year, and aggravated by budget constraints and political infighting, Iraq's current oil output has stagnated at around 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) - well below the country's enormous oil production potential. Since oil revenues account for 95 percent of the state's income, Shahristani has become the natural scapegoat for Iraq's current political and economic woes.

And with a major oil auction on the horizon, the country's first since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi oil brawl is bound to escalate in the coming weeks. Given what he is up against, there is no guarantee that Shahristani will make it out of these June parliamentary grill sessions in one piece, but he has given no indication that he is prepared to bow out of this fight.Shahristani's plan to breathe some life back into Iraq's oil industry involves circumventing parliamentary approval to allow 32 of the world's major energy companies on June 29-30 to bid on 20-year-long service contracts to develop Iraq's six largest oil producing fields and two untapped natural gas fields. These energy companies, which include ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch/Shell, ConocoPhillips, Turkish Petroleum Corp., BP, France's Total, Italy's Eni, Russia's Gazprom Neft and LUKoil, India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp., are taking a risk in investing in a country that has yet to pass an oil law, and whose politics pose a severe threat to business deals. Despite the risks, all these firms have a deep interest in securing these potentially lucrative contracts. But first, the oil minister must answer to the Federation of Oil Unions in the Shiite southern oil hub of Basra.

The southern labor unions produce the bulk of Iraqi crude and are extremely hesitant to allow foreign companies a piece of their contracts. The union federation has strongly criticized the oil minister for offering long-term service contracts, asserting that Iraqi companies and their employees are fully capable of developing the fields themselves. Shahrahstani's opponents in parliament argue that oil exploration - not production of existing fields - is needed to increase production. Shahristani, on the other hand, claims that exploration will take too much time, and there is a stronger need to focus on boosting current production. He argues that the foreign companies are the ones that the have the training, technological expertise and tools to more rapidly and efficiently boost Iraq's oil output by an additional 1.5 million bpd within four to five years.

This debate is not only about southern oil unions worried about being edged out by foreign oil majors. As Shahristani himself has claimed, there is a much wider political agenda involving multiple Iraqi factions currently in play.The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), currently the largest Shiite party in parliament and the political bloc most closely aligned to Iran, carries a great deal of clout in the Shiite south that could strengthen the anti-Shahristani movement. After having fared poorly against Shiite Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his allies in January provincial polls, the ISCI is doing whatever it can to weaken the prime minister's power base so that it can be on a stronger political footing for legislative elections slated for Jan. 30, 2010.The ISCI's strategy involves using its clout in parliament to chip away at al-Maliki's Cabinet appointees.

Already, Iraqi Trade Minister Falah al-Sudani and former Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani have been forced to resign. Shahristani, who maintains his political independence - and yet is in agreement with al-Maliki's vision of a strong, centralized government - is next on the target list.In addition to natural political competition, the ISCI and al-Maliki are on two different wavelengths in trying to shape the future of Iraq. The ISCI, and the Iranians by extension, envision a federalist model of Iraq that essentially carves out a Shiite autonomous zone in the south (similar to the Kurdish autonomous zone in the north). This would augment Iran's influence in Iraq via their Iraqi Shiite allies.

This vision, however, is directly at odds with that of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, smaller regional Shiite parties and the mainstream Sunni parties, who all agree on the need for a strong, centralized government in Iraq that can build up its immunity to foreign penetration. Al-Maliki and Shahristani have been able to draw support from Sunni and Shiite factions for their strong stance against federalism and their iron-fist approach with the Kurds, but they are also up against a number of sore losers from the provincial elections who want to see the prime minister weakened.The ISCI has no shortage of allies to use against al-Maliki. The oil unions in the south do not always get along politically with the ISCI, but they do share a common interest in fighting Shahristani's oil investment program. The ISCI also has a parliamentary alliance with the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, which recently succeeded in getting its own man in the parliamentary speaker position to use as a platform to challenge al-Maliki directly.

Finally, the ISCI has found an ally among the Kurds, who have the most to lose in this oil battle against al-Maliki and Shahristani.Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is locked into conflict with Baghdad over how to manage the country's massive oil wealth. Blessed by its energy resources and cursed by its geography, the Kurdish region is up against not only Iraq's Shiite and Sunni Arab communities, but also by its far more powerful neighbors - Turkey, Iran and Syria, who all share a common interest in extinguishing any notion of Kurdish independence or even expanded autonomy.

The Kurds' best defense against their rivals is to gain as much control as possible over energy resources in the north and to use their region's energy appeal to lure in foreign investors. The more foreigners buy into the Kurdish region, the more protection the Kurds receive against outside penetration. Consequently, from the moment Saddam Hussein fell from power and the Kurds organized politically, the KRG has been extremely active in inviting foreign firms to explore and develop Iraq's northern fields.To sweeten the pot, the Kurds have offered these firms extremely attractive Production-Sharing Agreements (PSAs) that offer firms ownership stakes in the fields. This policy directly opposes Shahristani's push only to allow foreign firms to charge fees, as opposed to offering them ownership rights that would undermine Baghdad's central authority, for raising output.

The Kurds know they have a narrow window of opportunity to secure these energy rights, and will thus fight tooth and nail in parliament to shoot down Shahristani and al-Maliki's policies that aim to assert central authority in Iraq and undermine Kurdish autonomy.But the Kurds can only go so far in their dealings with foreign energy firms, dealings Baghdad terms "illegal" and "unconstitutional." Energy companies have been exploring and developing fields in the north, but any plan to export for real profit must have both Turkey's (as the export link) and Baghdad's approval.

The Kurds, however, are feeling more emboldened after the central government - under heavy pressure to raise Iraq's oil output - reluctantly allowed oil to flow from KRG fields in the north to the Turkish port at Ceyhan for export beginning June 1. The budget pressure on Baghdad allowed the KRG to take another step forward in furthering Kurdish autonomy, but the Kurds also know this export opportunity can just as easily be snatched away by their rivals. For now, the Kurds are trying to exploit the wider criticism against Shahristani, a move that will allow them to continue with business as usual on the energy front while Baghdad remains at odds with itself.From intra-Shiite rivalries to panicky oil unions to Kurdish-Arab political battles, there are a number of reasons for the world's oil supermajors to be nervous about the June 29-30 auction. These political fissures run deep, and will continue to hold the country back from checking off critical items on the parliamentary agenda, such as signing a viable oil law.

With the central government on the defensive, it will most likely be up to an outside power to manage this political maelstrom.Of these powers, the United States is too distracted to enter into Iraqi internal politics to resolve these conflicts, and Iranian influence is largely limited to their Shiite allies. Turkey, however, is the country to watch in Iraq's energy evolution. The Turks are already on an ascendant path in the region, and have been busily shoring up ties with key members of each of Iraq's warring factions, including the Kurds. If Turkey intends to fulfill its long-term objective to control a substantial portion of Iraq's energy industry, it is only a matter of time before Ankara dives deeper into Iraqi politics.

Iraqi Dinar Value - Protection For Iraq's Funds Extended For One Year

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Thanks Ken

http://www.dealorbuydinar.com

Got to keep the CASH flowing and safe to sustain the recovery of Iraqi Dinar...

Protection for Iraq's funds extended for one year

June 4, 2009 - 01:01:46BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

A U.S. embassy official said that the U.S. president has agreed to extend protection for money deposited in the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) for another year, according to the head of Iraq's Board of Supreme Audit."The anti-corruption coordinator at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Joseph Stafford, said that the U.S. president has agreed to the extension for one more year," a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency quoted Abdulbasit Turki as saying.

An estimated $20-30 billion U.S. dollars is believed to be deposited in the DFI, according to officials.In May 2003, following the invasion of Iraq in March of that year, the Central Bank of Iraq-Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) account was created at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Administrator.

A part of the fund has been transferred to Baghdad and Iraq, and the DFI-Baghdad account was opened at the Central Bank of Iraq "for cash payment requirements". The DFI have been disbursed mainly for "the wheat purchase program, the currency exchange program, the electricity and oil infrastructure programs, equipment for Iraqis security forces, and for Iraqi civil service salaries and ministry budget operations".SS (S)/SRhttp://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=114127

Current Value Iraqi Dinar - U.S. Dollar - Worst Investment Ever?

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:40:00 +0000

I got a good chuckle out of this...

Enjoy!

One investment, more than any other, has proven to be a terrible storehouse of value for well over 80 years.

While some disasters unfold rapidly (Enron, subprime mortgages, etc.), this investment’s decline has occurred in slow motion, losing an average of 3.6% a year. Indeed, you can hardly find a period in the last 89 years in which this investment actually MADE money.
That investment is the dollar.

Source: Zero Hedge

The above chart shows the history of the dollar’s purchasing power going back to the 1920s. All told the dollar has lost 94% of its purchasing power since we abandoned the gold standard. The most dramatic loss in purchasing power occurred directly after Roosevelt made it illegal to own gold. However, with few exceptions, the dollar has been spiraling downward ever since 1920.
After Nixon ended Bretton Woods (legislation that pegged the dollar to gold indirectly), the pace of purchasing power destruction accelerated with the dollar losing an average of 4.4% in purchasing power annually.

Gold and the Dollar have maintained an inverse relationship ever since this time. One zigs, the other zags. One rallies, the other falls. And starting in 2000, both entered long-term trends: the dollar falling while gold rallied (see the below chart).

Now, nothing ever goes straight up OR straight down. And starting in June 2008, the dollar erupted in its strongest rally in decades, jumping 22% in eight months. The story here was easy to understand, although most of the media ignored it.

With the dollar continually in decline and interest rates well below the rate of inflation in the post-Tech Crash, foreign corporations and institutional investors borrowed heavily in dollars.
Doing this meant their debts were continually shrinking relative to their profits (sales were denominated in a currency that was rising relative to the currency in which their debts were denominated). This meant their debts were easier to pay off.

However, when the dollar started a rally in July ’08, this positioning began going horribly wrong. Anyone short the dollar got killed and had to cover their shorts (buy dollars) which in turn pushed the dollar higher. At one point there were an estimated $9 trillion in dollar shorts in the world. So the dollar rally was the mother of all short squeezes. And as you can see, it kicked gold in the teeth.

However, with the Feds running the printing presses and inflationary concerns hitting the market (oil and most industrial commodities have soared in the last three months), the dollar’s rise may have come to an end. If the dollar breaks below 79 in a meaningful way, it’s “look out below” time. Which should put gold above $1,000 in a sustainable way.

My co-editor Paul wrote last week that based on the historic trends in the last gold bull market (1970-80) he expected gold to begin its next leg up this fall. However, looking at the dollar vs. gold chart above, it may already be happening. Watch these two investments closely. We may be on the verge of a truly seismic shift between the gold and the dollar.

Good Investing!

You can see the charts here... too lazy to upload them.:)

http://seekingalpha.com/article/139722-u-s-dollar-worst-investment-ever

Iraqi Dinar Value-So Cute The Fledgling Democracy Has Embezzlement. Long Way To Go Before You Come Close To Illinois...

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:56:00 +0000

Hey...It Wasn't Me...It was the Other Guy That Looks Just Like Me With The Exact Same Name...

Iraqi Outgoing Provincial Chief Suspected Of Embezzling $130 Million

Monday April 6th, 2009 / 15h44

BAQOUBA, Iraq (AFP)--An arrest warrant has been issued for an outgoing Iraqi provincial council chief for allegedly misappropriating nearly $130 million in public funds, police said Monday.

"The judicial authorities have issued an arrest warrant against Ibrahim Hassan Bajilan, who is suspected of embezzlement," said an official in Baqouba, capital of the province of Diyala northeast of Baghdad. However Bajilan, a member of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, party, denied the allegation.

"It is completely false," he told AFP by telephone. "It was me who contacted the authorities, and judicial sources in Diyala province assured me it was someone with the same name who is being sought. It certainly isn't me!" Mahdi Saleh, a provincial councilor with the Islamic Party, told AFP that when the accounts for 2008 were being done "we discovered expenditure on fictitious projects and unjustified cash deposits in his accounts.

"Anti-corruption officials have asked Bajilan to reimburse 150 billion dinars ($128 million) to the state. He has refused. So the council referred the case to the judicial authorities," Saleh said. Iraq staged provincial elections Jan. 31 in 14 of the country's 18 provinces, including Diyala.

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=Jl1NcgUwprDy09IF7LuIhw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day

Iraqi Dinar Value- We Are Outta Here

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:23:00 +0000

Is It Time For This To Go Balistic The Other Way?

Hefty support for Obama's Iraq withdrawal: poll

WASHINGTON (AFP) — More than two-thirds of Americans support President Barack Obama's plans to withdraw most US troops from Iraq, a new poll said Tuesday as Obama paid a surprise visit to Baghdad.

A total of 69 percent backed the withdrawal plan while 30 percent were opposed, the poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp. said.

In February Obama announced he was pulling most combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010, although a force of up to 50,000 will remain until the end of the following year. The current deployment is more than 140,000.

A military accord signed last November between Baghdad and Washington requires all US forces to leave the country by the end of 2011.

The poll was released as Obama arrived for his first visit to Iraq since taking office in January, amid a new upturn in deadly attacks blamed by the Iraqi government and US military on the Al-Qaeda terror network.

The president told CBS television late last month that he would not speed up troop withdrawals from Iraq, arguing the war-torn country was "moving in the right direction" but still needed US help.

The CNN poll of 1,023 respondents was conducted by telephone from Friday to Sunday, and has an error margin of three percentage points.

Iraqi Dinar Value-The Lowest Deaths In The Entire Conflict, Does This Mean The Iraqi Dinar Will Explode In Value?

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Does This Mean The Iraqi Dinar Will Explode In Value?

Iraq: U.S. Troop Deaths At Record Low In March

April 1, 2009

Only four U.S. troops were killed by hostile action in Iraq during March - the lowest monthly figure since the invasion in 2003, and down from 11 deaths reported for February, Reuters reported April 1, citing official statistics. The number of Iraqi civilians killed in violence was at 180 for March, a decline from 211 reported in February, according to Iraq's Ministry of Health. The all-time low was recorded in January, with 138 deaths.

Iraqi Dinar Exchange Rate Will Rise 300 Times!!!

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:07:00 +0000

Big Thanks to http://dealorbuydinar.com/

Iraq is Growing Faster Than China And Has A Wealth Of Natural Resources

Iraqi Growth Rate Surpasses That of China

In anticipation of a stronger Iraqi currency, investment fever is rising in Japan

By Nagato Ito

17 March 2009 (Nikkei Business)In response to U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement of his Iraq withdrawal plan, anticipation of economic restoration in the country is rising among businesses as well as private citizens in Japan. The U.S. plan calls for 12,000 U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of this September, and for the evacuation to be complete by 2011.Expectations mount for infrastructure investment from JapanOn March 1, representatives of 12 Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Corp. and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd., visited Baghdad with Japanese government officials.

There were concrete inquiries about oil concessions and other issues, using legal terms at times.Iraq expects Japan to invest in its infrastructure. Since 2003, Japan has granted $1.5 billion in aid to Iraq, making contributions by repairing hospitals and power-generation facilities. Marubeni Corp. has received orders from hospitals in 12 locations. "Our know-how of security measures is probably the best," said Executive Director Shoichi Ikuta, a member of the inspection team.Although deaths by terrorist attacks have decreased, about 500 people still are being killed in Iraq each month. Marubeni, which finds it difficult to send its employees in Japan to Iraq, has decided to train Iraqi staffers outside the country.

Its method of training is to videotape what goes on locally and confirm the procedures from outside the country. Ikuta pointed out, "If we were to continue business transactions with Iraq, it would be necessary to ensure safety and lighten loan-collection risks."The International Monetary Fund estimates Iraq's growth rate for gross domestic product (GDP) is on the recovery track at 9.8% in 2008 and 7.7% in 2009. Though the scale of Iraq's GDP is about 1/47th that of China, its growth rate last year is estimated to have been higher than that of China, which was 9.0%.Expecting high rates of growth, various nations are expediting their expansion of trade with Iraq. U.S.-based General Electric has sold power generators, while Royal Dutch Shell decided to participate in gas field development.

China already is engaged in oil field development, while South Korea plans to build power generation facilities.Japanese Foreign Ministry Ambassador Gotaro Ogawa, who is in charge of coordinating reconstruction assistance for Iraq, said, "The United States has declared it will be responsible for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Public peace and order is likely to be restored." Japanese firms look forward to expanding business opportunities while maintaining a balance with safety.

Some expect Iraqi currency to rise 300 timesIn the midst of all these movements, an Iraq boom is starting among private citizens in Japan. A 42-year-old housewife living in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture, invested 1 million yen in Iraqi dinar last October. Since it can't be exchanged in banks in Japan, she made the purchase from a money changer in Tokyo. "When the Iraqi economy recovers, its value will surely rise sharply," she said.The money changer has been getting a considerable number of these orders lately. Its monthly trade was 500,000 yen last July, and swelled 60 times to 30 million yen by January of this year. The Iraqi currency had declined sharply due to the Gulf War and its aftermath. Some people have opined that if the official exchange rate returns to what it was before the war, the Iraqi currency may rise 300 times from its present rate.

Another money changer in Tokyo says he is getting similar orders, but remains calm about the currency rise. "On the basis of a practical rate, the rise will be no more than several times the present rate," he said. He said he only buys and sells after explaining the risks to customers, but in comparison with last September, the monthly trading volume has increased by about 20 times.

At first, President Obama had set the withdrawal deadline at April 2010, but was later forced to delay the deadline. There are some uncertain factors with regard to peace and order in Iraq in the future. Likewise, there is nothing certain about the value of its currency. Nevertheless, business firms and investors are attracted by Iraq, which boasts a high growth rate while the rest of the world is in recession. The economy of Iraq, not the military or political phases of the nation, is becoming the center of world attention.

Iraqi Dinar-For Those Of You Who Say We Should Have Never Gone In...

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:44:00 +0000

...THEN NOTHING WOULD HAVE CHANGED!

Saddam's palace still tells a story

Tim Albone, Foreign Correspondent

Last Updated: March 23. 2009 8:30AM UAE / March 23. 2009 4:30AM GMT

Schoolchildren tour Saddam Hussein’s Babylon palace, which retains little of its former glory. Tim Albone for The National

BABYLON, IRAQ // It sits atop a man-made hill overlooking the ancient city of Babylon. In its prime – with its swimming pool, Roman-inspired columns, chandeliers and bathrooms complete with jacuzzis – it was a testament to the gluttony of the Baathist regime.Today, gutted and looted, Saddam Hussein’s three-storey palace that overlooks the Euphrates River only hints at its former glory. The windows are smashed, the chandeliers broken and the swimming pool empty. The furniture is gone and the walls are covered in graffiti. Even the toilets have been removed. It serves as a graphic reminder of the pillaging and looting that went unpunished and unchecked after the US-led invasion of 2003.

Whereas once Saddam would have entertained guests and heads of state with sumptuous feasts and lavish parties at the estate, today schoolchildren visit. “They want to see how Saddam lived and how bad he was with the people. If you go to Hillah [a nearby town] you will see the small houses,” said Hussam Kadhim, 44, the manager of the site. He hopes that by showing the palace, decrepit as it is, the inequality of the former regime can be highlighted. While the ruler lived in luxury, most of the population remained poor.

Mr Kadhim, who works for the local government, said plans were under way to redevelop the site and turn it into a conference centre.He said it could, if security improved, even draw people from abroad for conferences. With its proximity to the ancient city of Babylon, luring archaeological buffs is another possibility.“They have a plan … and they [the government] are giving us the money to renovate.

Mr Kadhim estimates that to get the palace back to its former glory would cost about seven billion Iraqi dinar (Dh22 million).Already nearly 1,000 people a day come to visit and pay 1,000 dinar just to look at the building and to have a picnic in the grounds. Although some out-of-towners have visited, the majority come from nearby Hillah. Despite security concerns – a suicide bomb killed 10 people in Hillah this month – redevelopment has already started at a rapid pace. Chalets that used to house soldiers from Saddam’s special forces and presidential guard have been turned into hotel rooms. For 200,000 dinar you can rent a room complete with private bathroom, widescreen television and king-size bed.

Mr Kadhim has already had Ahmed Chalabi, the former deputy prime minster, as a guest. He hopes that, in time, the proximity to Baghdad and the luxury will draw couples and honeymooners.“It wasn’t even in my dreams that one day he [Saddam] would be gone and people could come here. They would have been arrested,” said Mr Kadhim, who worked as a government employee under Saddam.As the site has opened up it has offered some remarkable insights into the megalomania of the former ruler. The man-made hill, on which he built his palace, was placed on top of some of Babylon’s ancient ruins.

“They are lost forever,” said Abdul Satar Naji, 46, the security manager at the site.Then there is Saddam’s date tree. No different to the hundreds of others that dot the grounds except that it is surrounded by a concrete wall. “It was Saddam’s date tree and he made people take special care of it, only he could eat from it,” Mr Naji said.The bricks inscribed with immodest poetry about the “great Saddam” hint at his arrogance.

The Americans, who occupied the palace until 2005, have left their own mark. “To my Mom and Dad Happy Mothers/Fathers day. From Saddam Palace 30 April 05 Love your son Roy,” reads one scrawl. “Hooah”, says another in reference to the army’s battle cry. A third says: “Brian loves Brandy.” The crude graffiti adds to the sense of frustration felt by those who work at the palace. Not only did the Americans come in and draw on the walls, looters were allowed to take millions of dinar’s worth of fixtures and furniture immediately after the invasion and right under the American’s noses.

“The Americans allowed people to take everything,” Mr Naji, said. Despite the massive redevelopment needed, Iraqis visiting the site were happy just to marvel at the sheer size of the palace.“When I first visited I couldn’t believe how big it was. I got sick walking up the stairs,” said Mr Naji, the security manager.“I’ve been here three years and I can’t tell you how many bedrooms or bathrooms there are.”

“Before we were prevented from coming here, we just heard about it on TV,” said Saha Shokil, a headmistress, who had brought 250 pupils to visit.Ali, 21, a student, dressed in a smart suit, said: “It’s bigger than I thought. I can’t imagine how he lived.”His friend, Mohammed, 20, also a student, said: “It makes me angry. Saddam used to live here and we were poor.”

Iraqi Dinar-Brits Tuck Tail And Run...Is Iraq Really Safer...Or Are They Cutting And Running?

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:21:00 +0000

So Is the Country Safer Or Are We The Last Ones Left Holding The Bag? Or is this a sure sign to go Long on Iraqi Dinar?

British hand off to US in oil-rich southern Iraq

By KIM GAMEL – 7 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Britain turned over coalition command of the oil-rich south to the United States on Tuesday in the first step toward withdrawing virtually all British troops from Iraq by July.

The pomp-filled ceremony marked the beginning of the end of an often-troubled British mission. The Iraqis have accused the British of merely standing by while Shiite militias wielded control of the country's second-largest city of Basra for years.

However, U.S. and Iraqi commanders had nothing but praise Tuesday for Britain's role as the second-largest contributor of troops since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

"The accomplishments of the British forces across Iraq, and especially here in Basra, have been nothing short of brilliant," Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said during the ceremony at the airport base outside Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad.
The British troops will be withdrawn in phases, with combat operations to finish at the end of May and all but about 400 troops withdrawn by the end of July. Those staying behind will focus mainly on training the Iraqi navy to defend oil platforms stationed off the coast, the British
Ministry of Defense has said.

The Americans will move units to replace the British troops to ensure a smooth transition, the military said. U.S. military supply lines pass through the area en route from Kuwait to U.S. bases throughout the country.

The Iraq war has been extremely unpopular in Britain, and the issue shadowed the final years of Tony Blair's premiership.

At the height of combat operations in March and April 2003, Britain had 46,000 troops in Iraq. The British military has suffered 179 deaths since the war started.

Violence has dropped off sharply in most of Iraq, but a spate of high-profile bombings this month has raised concern that insurgents are regrouping ahead of the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraqi cities by the end of June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011.
The number of Iraqis killed in war-related violence rose 12 percent to at least 323 in March, including 87 security forces and 226 civilians, according to an Associated Press tally. That compared with 288 Iraqis killed in February.

The AP began tracking the figure in April 2005 based on reports by police, hospital officials, morgue workers and verifiable witness accounts.

These numbers are considered a minimum, based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher since many killings go unreported or uncounted. The security personnel include Iraqi military, police and police recruits, and bodyguards. Insurgent deaths are not included.
Also Tuesday, a suicide truck bomber struck an Iraqi police station in the northern city of Mosul, killing at least eight people — four policemen and four civilians — and wounding 12, officials said.
At least nine U.S. troop deaths were reported this month — less than half from combat, according to an AP tally.

The latest death occurred Tuesday, when a Marine died in a "noncombat incident" in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
In all, at least 4,263 American service members have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, the AP tally shows.

Associated Press Writer Sinan Salaheddin and the AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

howtobuydinar.org

Iraqi Dinar Exchange Rate - The Dollar Is No Longer Needed? Iraqi Dinar Thrives!

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:48:00 +0000

http://www.howtobuydinar.org/Iraqi-Dinar-Exchange-Rate.html

Has a new currency converter check it out...

OK so the dollar is severely down in Central Bank Auctions...

Meaning they are not selling it as much or using it as a currency. I remember when the dollar auctions use to dominate the Auctions.

I also remember when not too long ago you could get 1600 Iraqi Dinar per Dollar, not you would kill for that Iraqi Dinar Rate of Exchange.

Did you buy a ton of Dinar and reap the benefits or did you sit on the sidelines?

Fight amongst yourselves!

Central Bank of Iraq's dollar sales down to $150m on Tues

See article here:

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093239341

Buying Iraqi Dinar, Daredevil or Dumba$$

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:39:00 +0000

They are cutting back in tough economic times, when it is on sale, isn't that a great time to buy?

Are you currently buying Iraqi Dinar, and if not, why not?

Iraq finance minister resists budget cuts

Wed Mar 4, 2009 8:28pm IST

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, March 4 (Reuters) - Iraq's finance minister on Wednesday rejected a bid by parliament to cut the 2009 budget because of slumping oil revenues, but lawmakers said they remained determined to slash spending by up to 10 percent.
Minister Bayan Jabor told a heated, four-hour meeting of parliament's finance committee that the $62 billion budget for this year should be passed as it is, despite being based on optimistically high oil prices.

The finance minister argued that parliament could cut back spending plans in June in a supplementary "negative budget" if oil prices, from which war-battered Iraq gets more than 95 percent of its revenues, remained depressed.

"We want to keep the budget as it is," Jabor told Reuters. "We insist on keeping the budget as it is because we have investment projects that should continue ... and the government has already cut the budget by around $7 billion."

Lawmakers, however, said they were not convinced and would push for a vote on Thursday on two similar proposals, either to cut 10 percent -- 7.4 trillion dinars ($6.2 billion) -- or to cut 6.8 trillion dinars ($5.8 billion) in spending.

The Iraqi government is in a bind. It is being starved of revenues just when it desperately needs money to rebuild after the years of bloodshed unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion.
If the government fails to restore services, equip its armed forces and improve the lives of Iraq's 28 million people, there could be a resurgence in violence, some analysts warn.

Lawmakers say a lot of money is being squandered by government entities and the budget cuts can be implemented without affecting investment spending.

Iraqi Dinar Exchange Rate Is Ballistic For Past Two Years

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:31:00 +0000

Some Headlines read Iraqi Dinar Exchange Rate has soared versus the US Dollar, is it only because we are in a recession? Or is it part of the overall picture that even in a bad economy Iraqi Dinar holds value backed by the third largest oil reserve in the world?

Iraqi Oil Estimates are off the Charts and Cheap Access is a Major Advantage!!!!

http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory

Average (431 days):
1209.47680
High:
1203.10000
Low:
1107.20000

Iraqi Dinar

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Latest Headlines Regarding Iraqi Dinar

Oil price slump starves Iraq of funds

Inflation slips to 9.2 percent

7.5 pct GDP growth in 2009 optimistic but attainable

Iraq undecided on new IMF standby arrangement

By Missy Ryan and Wisam Mohammed

BAGHDAD, March 5 (Reuters) - The slump in oil prices will force Iraqi officials to make more sober budget decisions at a time the country is seeking to rebuild from years of war and fuel broad-based growth, the central bank governor said.

Iraq relies on oil for more than 95 percent of revenue and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government is already grappling with tough decisions as it looks for ways to reconcile today's oil price outlook with spending priorities crafted last year.

"There will be a difficult transitional period, but it should give us an idea of how to take a more realistic attitude toward allocations and demands from the various sectors," Sinan al-Shibibi said in an interview late on Wednesday.

"Of course, this occurs at the wrong moment because of the fact that Iraq actually needs to embark on huge projects and it will affect that. There will have to be reshuffling of the budget, and between investment and consumption."

An original plan to spend $80 billion in 2009 has already been shaved to $62 billion, but further cuts are likely needed.

Lawmakers have been sparring for weeks on ways to cut costs without jeopardizing plans to undertake urgently needed reconstruction projects and provide basic services -- all while avoiding stoking instability by cutting public sector pay.

INFLATION DROPS

As Iraq emerges from the worst of the sectarian and insurgent violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, it is now focusing on creating jobs and plans to rebuild a shattered economy.

Shibibi said core inflation, which shot as high as 35 percent in the chaos after 2003, had dropped to 9.2 percent now.

The bank has pursued a strong dinar policy, Shibibi said, in order to curb core inflation, which excludes fuel and transport. Iraq holds currency auctions through which it sets the exchange rate.

Iraq is also striving to reverse the dollarization of its economy since 2003. Today, the dinar is "very much in demand, and we think this is good for the economy and good for combating inflation," he said.

As inflation subsides, the bank has cut its policy interest rate to 11 percent from 14 percent in January, Shibibi said.

But with retail lending still scarce, the bank's policy rate is seen mainly as a signal to banks in setting their own rates rather than the transactional tool it is elsewhere.

"We want now to encourage investment and lending in general but (the policy rate) will depend - I don't want to give an idea of the direction - on the results of inflation every month."

Shibibi said lending in Iraq's banking sector, still largely isolated from the rest of the world, was picking up, mostly in financing trade and some personal loans excluding mortgages.

Increasing the availability of credit will be one key element for creating growth outside the oil sector, by far the biggest in dollar terms but which generates relatively few jobs.

Shibibi said the International Monetary Fund's December forecast for 2009 gross domestic product growth of around 7.5 percent was "probably optimistic" due to the global oil trend.

"On the other hand, it will be attainable because there will be a big endeavour ... to increase (oil) production," he said.

Iraq has been courting major investment in its oil fields, which contain the world's third largest proven reserves, but short-term help is urgently needed to update aging facilities and boost output that remains below pre-invasion levels.

NO IMF DECISION YET Shibibi said growth outside the oil sector, which the IMF expects will be 6 percent in 2009, "needs a lot of work".

Iraq has been spared much of the impact of the financial crisis due to its relative financial isolation, but it may be hurt by a slowdown in oil demand. Shibibi said that the growth of money supply in Iraq had probably slowed more recently.

Iraq has yet to decide whether it will seek another stand-by arrangement from the IMF, Shibibi said, but said such a decision could come when Iraqi officials meet shortly with the IMF.
Iraq is also due to begin repaying its remaining stock of Paris Club debt in 2011. Shibibi said he didn't expect that new obligation would pose a major problem.

"I really don't think it is very dangerous ... Of course the amount at the beginning will be relatively big, but we will have to manage that unless we restructure again," Shibibi said.
"The Paris Club debt was cancelled 80 percent, so we're talking about 20 percent. A few countries cancelled 100 percent, but the remaining debt from other creditors, we have to deal with that and probably there will be another restructuring." (Editing by Toby Chopra)

Iraqi Dinar Value And Exhange Rate Rises

noreply@blogger.com (seriouslender) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:16:00 +0000

Hat tip to E Dinar Financial They Have Great Iraqi Dinar News

http://www.edinarfinancial.net/news/?quer=&nm=&ny=&nn=581

The Iraq Central Bank's sales exceeded 2 billion dollars in February

March 04, 2009

The Iraq Central Bank's adviser Mudhir Mohammed Saleh stated with regard to the high volume of sales during last January as "a result for the new contracts being concluded by traders for the importation of various types of goods in the first month of the year as well as the decline in commodity prices globally which urged importers to buy more."

Regarding the reasons for stabilizing exchange rates throughout the month of February he said "because of world prices declining of imported goods, which would give a value of Iraqi dinar against the dollar, even if we did not raise the value."

The sales were distributed on total cash demand of $ 561 million and 600 thousand dollars at the exchange rate 1176 dinars per dollar, which includes the commission of the Central Bank amounting to six dinars per dollar.

While foreign remittances recorded a size of request amounted to one billion and 801 million and 958 thousand dollars, at an exchange rate of 1173 dinars per dollar, inclusive of the Central Bank's commission amounted to three dinars per dollar.

While the daily demand recorded of 124 million and 397 thousand dollars during the 19 sessions were held during February, lower than last December which recorded 179 million and 698 thousand, during 17 sessions.

None of the February's meetings witnessed any offers for selling dollar by the contributing banks in the auction.

The central bank holds an auction of five sessions weekly from Sunday to Thursday for the sale and purchase of foreign currencies, and receives a commission for the cash sale amounted to six dinars per dollar, and a commission of three dinars per dollar for the remittances outside the country.(Source)AlSabah