More News, Rumors and Opinions Saturday PM 6-7-2025

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Clare:  Economic Council: Broad interest from regional and international companies to participate in the Iraq Investment Forum.

6/6/2025  Baghdad – 

 Iraqi Economic Council Chairman Ibrahim Al-Masoudi Al-Baghdadi affirmed on Friday that Iraq has become a destination for investment in the Middle East, thanks to the government’s extensive support for investment and investors.

 Addressing the Iraq Investment Forum, he revealed widespread interest from regional and international companies to participate, noting that more than 250 investment opportunities will be showcased.

 Al-Baghdadi told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “This explains the change and geopolitical orientation towards Iraq, which has today become the investment destination in the Middle East,” noting that “just a year ago, we were facing great difficulty in inviting investors to attend conferences or forums inside Iraq, but today there is a widespread desire from important companies and countries from the Gulf, the Middle East, Europe, America and Arab countries to participate in the Iraq Investment Forum scheduled to be held on June 14 and 15.”

He added, “There is growing demand due to the abundance of quality and profitable opportunities, especially since Iraq has lived through long years of war, siege, and terrorism, creating an urgent need for all types of projects. Today, we are beginning to see the results of the hard work and efforts of the past years.”

He explained, “Today’s investor is looking for an unsaturated market. For example, building a five-star hotel in Dubai means competing with 650 hotels of the same category, while Iraq currently needs approximately 60 hotels, according to the Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities. This provides a golden opportunity for any investor to operate in an environment virtually devoid of competition.”

Al-Baghdadi pointed out that “Iraq is the largest market in the region, and its environment has become attractive to investments,” predicting that “the next ten to twenty years will witness Iraqi superiority in investment competition with countries in the region.”

Regarding the Iraq Investment Forum, Al-Baghdadi explained that “the forum will showcase more than 250 investment opportunities, including 150 direct opportunities, 31 of which are in the electricity sector, and more than 15 in the oil sector, in addition to dozens of opportunities in industry, agriculture, transportation, information technology, industrial cities, and free zones.” He noted that “the Ministry of Industry will showcase 97 opportunities within the partnership mechanism with its companies.”

He explained that “these projects will contribute to creating thousands of job opportunities, and may reach hundreds of thousands in the coming years, as part of the National Investment Commission’s plans.”   LINK

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Clare:  140 Trillion dinars enter the Iraqi treasury in one year, 91% of which comes from oil

6/7/2025

The Iraqi Ministry of Finance revealed on Saturday that the revenues in the 2024 federal budget exceeded 140 trillion dinars, confirming that oil contributed 91% of those revenues.

Shafaq News Agency reviewed the data and tables issued by the Ministry of Finance in May for the previous fiscal year’s accounts, which showed that oil remains the primary source of revenue for Iraq’s general budget, accounting for 91% of the total. This indicates that the rentier economy remains the foundation of the budget structure.

The tables indicate that total revenues in 2024 amounted to 140 trillion, 774 billion, 106 million, 157 thousand, and 464 dinars, while total expenditures amounted to 125 trillion, 214 billion, 440 million, 53 thousand, and 991 dinars.

According to the tables, oil revenues amounted to 127 trillion, 536 billion, 400 million, and 812 thousand dinars, representing 91% of the general budget, while non-oil revenues amounted to 13 trillion, 237 billion, 705 million, and 728 thousand dinars.

In this regard, economic expert Mohammed al-Hasani told Shafaq News Agency, “Iraq’s reliance on oil for its public revenues indicates that the country is still suffering under the burden of a rentier economy, disguised unemployment, and other economic problems that constitute an obstacle to any progress.”

He added, “Iraq needs major economic reforms focused on diversifying the economy, improving spending efficiency, and combating financial waste to ensure a sustainable economic future.”

In March 2021, the Prime Minister’s financial advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, told Shafaq News Agency that the reasons for the economy remaining rentier are due to the wars and economic blockade imposed over the past decades, as well as the political conflicts Iraq is currently witnessing, which have led to the dispersion of economic resources.

The Iraqi state’s continued reliance on oil as the sole source of its public budget exposes the country to the risk of global crises linked to oil markets. This forces it to cover its deficit through external or domestic borrowing each time. This indicates a weakness in the management of public funds and an inability to find alternative financing solutions.  LINK

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Courtesy of Dinar Guru:  https://www.dinarguru.com/

Mnt Goat  where…are…we…with the RV saga… The choo-choo train is still moving down the tracks quickly. It may make stops along the way, such as to combat money laundering, implementing financial reforms, implementing the Development Road Project, etc, etc.  …Many of these plans are already accomplished, some now in motion and some still in the planning stages…They do not have to implement all of these plans to get there…Later this wealth will sustain the value of the dinar once reinstated…all trains eventually make it to the end of track. This end is coming.

Bruce   [via WiserNow]  You’ve got a holiday…in Iraq…it starts Friday and ends on Monday…we talked about Eid al Adwa…in the past… they are supposed to…Let’s use the term revalue their Iraqi dinar over the weekend… that did happen over that four day holiday in Kuwait… I think that this weekend, I’ve been told by our…sources, officially revalue the Iraqi dinar and bring it out. I’m going to say Monday or Tuesday probably Tuesday… 

Is China Secretly Resetting the Gold Price?

Daniela Cambone:  6-7-2025

“You can’t reset the gold price. It’s global. No one nation can do that,” says Dr. Nomi Prins, international economist and investigative journalist.

In an interview with Daniela Cambone, Prins unpacks the myths behind recent headlines claiming China is resetting the gold price.

 She clarifies that while China isn’t resetting the price, it is making structural moves to reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar and elevate gold’s role in trade and settlement.

“What China is doing is accumulating more gold in its reserves while it is selling US Treasury bonds,” she explains. Addressing the upcoming July 1 Basel III deadline, Prins notes that gold is already classified as a Tier 1 asset under current rules. However, it is not yet recognized as a High-Quality Liquid Asset (HQLA) in the U.S. banking system.

“The July 1st date matters, but the attribution to the date that’s out there is mostly inaccurate,” she says, emphasizing that the Fed’s decision remains uncertain.

Chapters:

00:00 — Is China Resetting the Gold Price?

06:02 — The Role of Gold and the Yuan

09:08 — Can Any Country Control the Gold Price?

10:43 — What Happens on July 1 Under Basel III?

16:08 — Ray Dalio’s Warning on Debt

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/CJt2_H2xg6s?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1