“Tidbits From TNT” Wednesday Morning 9-20-2023

TNT:

CandyKisses:  Iraq has the fifth largest GDP in the Middle East and North Africa

Economy News _ Baghdad

Iraq had the fifth largest GDP of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa during the past 2022, with $ 270.36 billion.

This came according to a table for the German company (Statista) specialized in market and consumer data, seen by “Economy News“.

GDP is an economic indicator that measures the monetary value of total goods and services produced within the boundaries of a geographical area (e.g. a country) over a specified period of time (e.g. one or half year). GDP is neither an indicator of social welfare nor of total wealth.

According to the German company, Saudi Arabia ranked first in GDP with one trillion and 108 billion dollars, followed by the UAE with 507.54 billion dollars, Egypt third with 475.23 billion dollars, Iran fourth with 321 billion dollars, while Iraq came fifth.

Qatar came sixth with $ 225 billion, Algeria seventh with $ 195 billion, Kuwait eighth with $ 184 billion, Morocco ninth with $ 138 billion, and Oman tenth with $ 114 billion

CandyKisses:  World Bank Mission Comments On Implementation Performance Of Social Fund For Development

The World Bank mission in Iraq on Wednesday praised the level of performance and progress achieved in the implementation of the projects of the Social Fund for Development of the Ministry of Planning during the past months, according to a statement published recently.

According to the ministry’s statement, this came “during the message sent by the World Bank’s Resident Representative in Iraq, Richard Abdulnour, to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning Muhammad Ali Tamim, after a series of joint meetings between the two sides.”

“He expressed his thanks to the teams of the Ministry of Planning and the Social Fund for the Development Project, for the excellent cooperation and support provided to the World Bank team during the Implementation Support Mission, which took place from August 31 to September 5, 2023.”

Abdulnour also thanked the representatives of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee and the Ministry of Finance for their participation in the mission. He pointed out that the Fund has made good progress during this period, praising the level of performance of the fund manager, the project management office, and the project management teams over the past few months, stressing that the intensive efforts made by these teams contributed to accelerating the implementation of projects, with commitments increasing to about $130 million.”

In his letter, the representative of the World Bank pointed out that “the mission has reviewed and discussed the request of the Iraqi government to address a second restructuring of the Social Fund to improve the prospects for long-term institutional development and increase allocations for sub-projects led by the local community.”

He expressed “his aspiration for continued cooperation between the two sides, stressing the keenness and readiness of the World Bank to support the efforts of the Ministry of Planning, for the success of the experience of the Social Fund for Development and achieving comprehensive social protection in Iraq.”

بعثة البنك الدولي تعلق على أداء تنفيذ مشاريع الصندوق الاجتماعي للتنمية

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Tishwash:  Oil is cheaper than Coca-Cola

When the news comes of a rise in oil prices in global markets, it indicates a state of recovery in global demand for black gold, which in turn shows the extent of economic and industrial activity in the countries that import it, as the data tells us that prices have risen to exceed the threshold of ninety dollars per barrel after oil prices continued to rise in trading.

 The daily newspaper is supported by increasing expectations of a recovery in global demand for crude oil. If this state of escalation continues, we may not be surprised if we find the price of a barrel exceeding the current price and approaching one hundred dollars before the end of the current year, and this matter is not unseen, but there are indicators that confirm the reality of the price escalation because The demand for it will increase to a greater extent as the end of the hot summer and the beginning of the winter approaches.

When a state of complete optimism prevails and not cautious optimism, it makes the global oil markets take two steps forward versus taking one step back from time to time.

Here the importance of mentioning that many of the major oil-consuming industrial countries are most often the cause of the rise in global commodity prices.

Especially the food products that it produces and exports to other countries, this increase is not objective, as in most cases it is not based on the cost of those products, but rather on a slight movement in the demand for them by the countries from which they import food.

Even Western experts believe that the current price of a barrel of oil is appropriate for consumers if it is measured by the prices of some manufactured foodstuffs, so that oil, which is a difficult number in the global economic equation, and at its current or high prices, remains much cheaper than some unnecessary drinks, such as Coca-Cola, the price of which is as high as a barrel.

To (150) dollars, even though it is considered a luxury product and its consumption does not constitute a matter of life or death for a person, and it is an unnecessary material, like the need for oil, which is used in the production of many important goods, products, and needs of human society.

It is important to say that the economic reality in Iraq emphasizes the necessity of exploiting the rise in global oil prices and working to reduce the planned deficit gap in the budget, which is estimated at approximately (64) trillion dinars for the current year and the next two years

In addition to its positive repercussions in terms of increasing the country’s financial revenues, especially in If its prices stabilize or rise, which is much higher than the price of oil presented in the federal budget of Iraq, which is estimated at about $70 per barrel, which enhances the benefit from the difference in those prices in various economic matters, as well as facing the fluctuations in oil prices and surprises in demand for it in the energy markets, as well as the development of the stages of Prices will make the budgets for the next two years maintain their constants and procedures, especially since there are great expectations for an increase in demand for oil from many Western countries, especially in the European continent, to face the cold winter.

In general, when the global economy restarts in recovery, oil prices in global markets rise more than expected and may exceed the ceiling of expectations, and their general trends are in favor of oil-exporting countries, which reduces the risks of its fluctuations in the foreseeable future. link