American Contractor

The Ministry of Trade is at the moment coordinating with the Central Bank of Iraq, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Interior to receive and hand out the Iraqi Dinar bonus to everyone through the food ration agents prior to the end of Ramadan.

Looks like PM Maliki will be traveling to Bahrain soon, the next time he tours the Middle East in attempting to gain support for his security programs and to sign agreements with neighboring countries. Let’s hope the Iraqi PM Maliki comes back with some great agreements and plenty of US Dollars.

The Integrity Commission has made some progress in the conviction of the Former Electricity Minister, Ayham al-Samarrai in Iraq who was sentenced to two years in prison by the Iraqi corruption court. The former minister still faces additional charges in the corruption case. This is the same minister that holds dual American and Iraqi citizenship and he is one of more then 20 government officials from the previous Iraqi government administration to be charged and convicted.

Maybe soon the Integrity Commission and the Iraqi Corruption courts can apprehend and convict the other corrupt officials and put an end to the corruption within the Iraqi government so that Iraq can start to move forward.

And another thing this is good news because it shows that the Iraqi government is attempting to crack down on corrupt officials regardless if the crimes of corruption occurred in the past and long ago and especially with a previous regime. This will gain confidence with the Iraqi people that if you break the law you will be held accountable no matter who you are or which position you currently or had previously held.

The Oil Mafia must be worried by now seeing a conviction and prison sentence of the previous Ministry of Electricity to serve two years in prison and equally worried I am certain is one Private Iraqi banker.

A lot is happening this week as the Iraqi Parliament is no doubt breaking records at voting and passing the Federalism Bill and the maybe I think the Foreign investment law bill that everyone in the world is so anxious to see pass. The jury is still out on that one could be legit; the passing of the FIL, or it could be just one big ploy to convince people to run out and purchase more Iraqi Dinars which I am sure hundreds of people did either way.

To buy something on a rumor, that my loyal reader is insanely powerful and at the same time it’s very sad. Out here in the Middle East do you know what is more powerful then a stack of fresh newly minted Iraqi Dinars…..you guessed it …a bottle of Water.

The Iraqi Dinar Forums are buzzing again as usual with the same fury as before and those forum members can’t get enough torture and punishment and still hoping and praying for that RV. Hoping to profit on currency speculation, well here is a little secret, there will be no RV in 2006 or 2007 and that is straight from the powers to be on Haiffa Street and if you ever been to Baghdad you know what I am talking about.

Remember the State of Utah lists the buying of Iraqi Dinars as one of the top ten scams of 2005.

Posted by American Contractor at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The recent news report by the Voice of Iraq and two other in the news media claiming the Iraqi Parliament have passed the Foreign Investment law, I am not so sure. For a major event such as this and all it was reported by were a few private news organizations and no other media outlets.

Just seems a bit odd to me that no other major coverage was given to this major milestone. I wouldn’t count it as a done deal until someone with in the Iraqi government announces the achievement we all been waiting for. Maybe this is going to be done tomorrow at the news conference, will just have to wait and see.

Just my observation.

Posted by American Contractor at 3:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Housing Bank will be giving housing loans to citizens and public servants soon.

Posted by American Contractor at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kuwait has received a payment of 11.2 Billion dollars from Iraq on 7 October. The emirate, however, agreed in 2004 to an American request to substantially cut the estimated 16-billion-dollar debt owed to it by Iraq.

Posted by American Contractor at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the unconfirmed report that the Foreign Investment Law has been passed the timing could not be more perfect as the Iraqi Officials have met with executives of Exxon/Mobile according to this report. You can read an excerpt below.

Iraq envoy: U.S. oil investment waiting on legal changes

HOUSTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. oil companies are slowly building their relationships with the Iraqi government in anticipation of a new legal regime that will allow them to invest there, the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. said Monday.
"I see very strong interest from U.S. energy companies in Iraq," Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie told Dow Jones Newswires after a speech in Houston.
The companies "have visited me at the embassy and expressed that interest," while "waiting for things to be put in place," he said.
The passage of a new investment law in the next two or three weeks and a new hydrocarbons law "within this year" will create the right conditions for major U.S. investments, he said.
U.S. oil companies are "already building up their relationship with the ministry of oil" and providing training to Iraqi technicians, said Sumaida'ie, who added that he would meet with Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) executives on Monday.

Posted by American Contractor at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You probably didn’t know that there was an agency in the Iraqi government responsible for seeking out corruption with in the Iraqi government called the Integrity Commission, which is headed by an Iraqi named Radi Al-Radi.

It has been recently reported that corruption during the last two years have been at an all time high in Iraq and that high ranking officials have escaped arrest and punishment because they have escaped out of the country or are protected by either laws or are protected by parliamentary immunity.

Currently there are eight ministries that have been referred to the Iraqi court on corruption charges, and several have escaped prosecution by fleeing to another country or remain in Iraq and are in hiding. The Integrity Commission has begun to investigate the oil smuggling that has been stealing 2-3 billion dollars a year from the Iraqi government and people.

Fighting corruption in Iraq is very dangerous since the start of the Integrity commission 15 corruption court judges and 21 Integrity Commission investigators have been murdered.

Posted by American Contractor at 12:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ministry of Oil Dr. Husayn Al-Shahrastani, stated last August that the Fuel crisis was over for the Iraqi people. The Iraqi government had signed oil agreements with the neighboring gulf countries to bring in more Kerosene and Fuel products. The signed agreements are not going as planned and the Iraqi people are back with a fuel crisis the Ministry of Oil maybe possibly spoke to soon or really had not solved the Fuel crisis that has been a problem for quite sometime in Iraq.

The recent oil contracts with Jordan states that Iraq would be selling the oil at $10 a barrel of Oil, very cheap compared to the actual world price hovering at $60 a barrel. Iraq is having problems with fuel distribution to the local gas stations, they can not get it fast enough. The major problem with the local gas station is them selling the fuel on the black market for a quick profit.

The Iraqi government is still subsidizing the fuel. The Iraqi government is buying the fuel for about .35 cents and selling it to the local gas station at .02 cents. When the local gas station owner is buying the fuel at .02 cents and quickly selling all is fuel to the Oil Mafia at .10 cents making five times his money, a one time transaction so the owner can go home and spend more time with his family. Leaving the Iraqi consumer with a closed up gas station and forcing the Iraqi consumer to go to a fuel truck on the side of the road and buying the fuel at 50-100 times the price then the local gas station.

The recent energy and oil contract with Iran is having problems with the transporting of the fuel trucks into Iraq from Iran. The issue is with security and that the drivers are worried for their safety. The Iranian company said they would have the security situation worked out shortly.

The IMF will be having a review with the Iraqi government concerning the SBA agreement this month. This is a scheduled review that is part of the agreement with Iraq government. The IMF, I am sure will be disappointed with the Iraqi government for not raising the fuel and electricity prices as agreed last Dec 2005 when the agreement was signed.

It is possible that the Iraqi government for not keeping there obligation with the IMF SBA agreement that no quarterly payment is made to Iraq. This stop payment will be left up to the IMF.

Posted by American Contractor at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are some people and maybe a lot of people that have bought Iraqi Dinar while inside Iraq and there a lot of people that have bought their Iraqi Dinar outside Iraq through the Iraqi Dinar dealers that are located in several countries through out the world.

I am wondering when is this dream of making it rich by holding on to another countries currency going to end. The answer is that it doesn’t end it will keep going and going till the Dinar dealers make as much money as they can by hyping this cash speculation, it won’t end for them just like it won’t end for the Dinar buyer as he reads the forums and gets all the good knowledge or bad information from long time members of those Dinar forums enticing people to buy more Dinars, because as those veterans of those same forums are telling you the buyer you are running out of time, or the RV is this week because of some new news article that they all interpret for a pending revaluation of the Iraqi currency.

An rv is tomorrow or next week or next year and as you spend that several hundred or several thousand USD dollars and you convince your self that your going to make a lot of money by cash speculation and holding physical dinars of another war torn country you are sadly mistaken.

How many have bought Dinars just on reading a rumor on the message boards and spent there last savings hoping to make it rich because the message board says so. The famous line is “Only spend what you can afford to lose” and I am sure people have spent more then they can afford and been waiting one two and three years on this “investment” that’s what they call it, waiting to cash in at the local bank.

How long are you willing to wait and gamble for this RV that everyone is hoping that it happens? The RV is not going to happen anytime soon as the Iraqi government is still trying to govern a country that is in bad shape in all areas of industry, manufacturing and the private sector. Sure they do some things well and some things are lot better then it was back in 2003.

The reality is that Iraq as a whole needs lots of training in banking, manufacturing, and all the industries to be equal to the other gulf countries and the rest of the world. The most important thing the Iraqi people need is security. With out this they don’t learn at the schools for there trade or occupation. With out security the children don’t go to school for fear of being a victim of a terror act or involved in a kidnapping. If your in fear that the local bank is going to be robbed and there goes your life savings you immediately withdraw the money and place it in a neighboring country bank where it is safer and low risk of losing your savings. This is what fear does to an Iraqi living in Iraq today.

The Iraq Stock Exchange I believe will be the premier bourse in the region but what good is it when you live in fear. Would you expose yourself to risk by walking or driving to the ISX that is across town or would you just sit at home and trade electronically with one of the other Arab bourse such as Kuwait, Jordan, Dubai, because remember you removed your money out of the private Iraqi bank due to all the bank robberies that are still occurring.

The Iraqi’s need to take a leap of faith and invest back in the private banking in Iraq and to invest in the Iraqi Stock Exchange before they all lose out in the building of there country and missing out on all the profits that the ISX will generate as soon as the foreign investors get the green light to invest in the summer of 2007.

The cash Dinar holders outside of Iraq well I am sure you can see where you all fit in this equation. You contribute nothing to Iraq in the scheme of things, well, I am wrong you contributed your US Dollars to help raise the reserves inside the Central Bank of Iraq slowly. Just keep buying those Iraqi Dinars I am sure you will be able to cash in when you someday visit Iraq in the future.

No RV in 2006.

Posted by American Contractor at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have recently stated that four representatives of Iraqi Sunni and Shia Muslim will meet in Saudi Arabia later on this month before the end of Muslim Fast of Ramadan. An agreement with the two sides will hope to sign an agreement to put a halt to the sectarian violence that is plaguing Iraq and hope to stop the killing that is occurring inside Iraq everyday.

The PM Maliki security plan has not been a success since it started last month maybe this meeting will help to curb the sectarian violence. The meeting has the approval of the Shia Cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. The meeting will be taking place inside the Holy city of Mecca.

Posted by American Contractor at 3:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)