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The Iraqi Ministry of Finance Jabr al-Zubaydi, has said in a recent interview; Chase Bank will be opening a Bank Branch soon.
More to follow...
If you would like the transcript of the Ministry of Finance full interview send me an email.
americancontractor@gmail.com
Important Iraq Dates
July 15, 2009 – UNSC Technical meeting and discussions of Iraq Chapter 7
July 21, 2009 – PM Maliki visit U.S.
July 25, 2009 – KRG Parliament Elections
July 25, 2009 – Possible Iraq Referendum vote (SOFA Security Agreement)
Mid August 2009 – Ratify Oil Contracts w/Iraqi Parliament
August 11, 2009 – Referendum on the Kurdish Regional Government Constitution
August 21st to September 19th 2009 – Ramadan
October 16-17, 2009, Getenergy for Iraq 2009, to be held in Istanbul, Turkey
October 2009 – International Compact with Iraq– Date to be Announced – Baghdad
December 7-9, 2009 Iraq Petroleum Conference London U.K.
December 31, 2009 – Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) expires
December 31, 2009 – Article Seven U.N. Charter expires
December 2009 – Article 140 Vote
January 16, 2010 – Iraq Referendum Vote (SOFA Security Agreement)
January 16, 2010 - National Parliamentary Elections
IMPORTANT IRAQ DATES
Today is the day for the UNSC meeting on Iraq in regards we all hope to the Iraq Chapter Seven. My speculation is that Iraq will continue to remain under Chapter Seven closer to the end of the year or may very well be removed. After the first round of Oil Bids I am not so sure if some of the permanent members of the UNSC will vote yes at this time. Kuwait has nothing to do with this as it is all in the hands of the UNSC. Iraq's problem with Kuwait is the war reparations and recovering property this is one of many UN resolutions and this is not the same as Chapter Seven in regards to Iraq being a threat to it's Arab neighbors. The recent signing of the SOFA agreement last Dec 2008 inside the agreement Article 25 is very important in lifting the Chapter Seven however, it is up to a vote with the permanent members of the UNSC and not everyone is voting yes.
The Iraq Parliament Speaker along with other members of the Iraqi government as reported did travel to Kuwait and did deliver documents and currency to the Kuwaiti government.
IMF SBA LOAN
The IMF SBA 'loan' estimated 5.5 billion and the total is just speculation because the actual total has not been confirmed as of yet is not a loan it is a quota. Iraq has loans and they have quota's. The current IMF Loan Iraq is possibly pursuing is just a quota and not a loan.
Iraq has a quota with the IMF the current amount is for 1.8 billion dollars at the IMF. This is a line of credit that exists that the Iraqi government can pull from if they feel they need the money at any time.
This quota was part of the agreement at the meeting held in Amman Jordan.
This is the quota in reference to Iraq directly from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) web site.
http://www.imf.org/external/np/tre/quota/status.htm
There is a difference between a loan and a quota from the IMF.
It has been reported in Arab media statements by the Iraq Finance Minister Jabr al-Zubaydi, that Iraq will not be needing any loans from the World Bank.
Last January in the Wall Street Journal there was an article about western banks helping Iraq.
Article excerpt: From the Wall street Journal 28 Jan 2009
Western Bank Giants Prepare to Revamp Iraq’s Financial System
Representatives from J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank reached a handout to their Iraqi counterparts today, saying they were ready to work with local banks to help modernize the financial system in the war-torn country. Iraq’s banking system needs a complete overhaul, from boosting international wire transfer capabilities to setting up ATMs to establishing widespread use of credit cards. Like many sectors that languished under the Saddam Hussein regime, banks in Iraq remained relatively cut off from the modern financial world during the years of the dictatorship.
http://blogs.wsj.com/iraq/2009/01/28/western-bank-giants-prepare-to-revamp-iraqs-financial-system/
I've mentioned before that the Iraqi banking system is small and fragile and is in badly need of investments to build back up their infrastructure. The Iraqi banking needs guidance and technical expertise, training, cash to get the Iraqi banking industry into the 21st century.
The Iraq Central Bank (CBI) is about to approve if they have not already to start opening CHASE Banks in Baghdad. And I would not be surprised if CITI bank is also very soon will be opening branches in Baghdad. The time frame well..there is more information to follow. This is major and doing this will get the foreign investments that the Iraqi government would like to see a major western bank a bank branch in downtown Baghdad. There is no link to this info it is based on open source mediums. You can believe it or not and when it happens just remember that the American Contractor blogger was the first to mention CHASE BANK in Baghdad.
The article in the WSJ was the first inclination that something is more happening just a matter of time. Plus a few months ago the CBI was working on approving more international banking licenses and that was reported in the media.
RV UPDATE
There really is none and it is business as usual. There a Technical meeting in regards to Iraq.
There is more to follow.
Be sure and join my mailing list because you never when the blog web site may in the future just go away. If and whenever that occurs would hate for you all to miss out on my articles and announcements concerning Iraq.
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Be careful of persons stating the RV is at 5pm CST time and taking that as concrete information that the RV is about to occur based on current events.
There is no current information on the ground in Iraq that would lead anyone to believe that an RV is imminent and about to occur.
More to follow...
The governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Sinan al-Shabibi, has survived an attempt on his life in which a bomb targeted his motorcade in the Al-Karradah area of central Baghdad, killing one and wounding five.
July 15, 2009 – U.N. Security Council Special Sessions meeting on Iraq Article 7
July 21, 2009 – PM Maliki visit U.S. as announced by AC a month ago...
July 25, 2009 – KRG Parliament Elections ??
July 25, 2009 – Possible Iraq Referendum vote (SOFA Security Agreement) ??
Mid August 2009 – Ratify Oil Contracts w/Iraqi Parliament
August 11, 2009 – Referendum on the Kurdish Regional Government Constitution
August 21st to September 19th 2009 – Ramadan
October 16-17, 2009, Getenergy for Iraq 2009, to be held in Istanbul, Turkey
October 2009 – International Compact with Iraq– Date to be Announced – Baghdad
December 7-9, 2009 Iraq Petroleum Conference London U.K.
December 31, 2009 – Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) expires
December 31, 2009 – Article Seven U.N. Charter expires
December 2009 – Article 140 Vote
January 16, 2010 – Iraq Referendum Vote (SOFA Security Agreement)
January 16, 2010 - National Parliamentary Elections
Important Iraq Dates - Update
Well, June 2009, is over and just as predicted in my posts of RV Updates nothing happened in regards to the prospect of an RV at the end of June 2009, as some people were announcing on the net and the forum world.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will be meeting next week (15 July) in regards to removing Iraq from the Chapter Seven resolution. This will be an important meeting and a step in the right direction to remove Iraq from Chapter Seven however, I am not sure what the other permanent U.N. members will report and or vote on the matter. Some permanent members have stated there support for Iraq in lifting the resolutions such as France and the United States and as for the other permanent members, I have not read anything. I will say that in my opinion Iraq Oil Contracts and further exploration of Iraq's vast oil wealth plays an important part in this regard to the Article Seven being lifted any time soon.
On May 27th I mentioned for the first time and before any western media mentioned that the Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, will be visiting the United States. Now the date as reported is 21 July and PM Maliki will be visiting first the United Nations and than Washington D.C.. Maybe he will go to an Investment Conference too.
Just this week as predicted on 23 June American Contractor blog that the Iraqi Parliament Speaker would be heading to Kuwait and this happened on 5 – 6 July. Kuwait now after the successful meeting between the Kuwaiti and Iraq officials, Kuwait will now assist in removing Iraq from the Chapter Seven. The Chapter Seven is in the United Nations hands now and Kuwait officially has nothing to do with it. Iraq has to plead it's case to the United Nations and the permanent members of the UNSC.
Just recently the Iraq Parliarment Speaker said “ Iraq would work with Kuwait to exit from the UN Chapter 7 within international legitimacy.”
The U.N has already placed the new resolutions on Iraq and hopefully those will be published soon. You will see in the future more coordination between the two countries.
There is a new date which is 11 August 2009, which will be the Referendum on the Kurdistan Regional Government Constitution.
Iraq 2009 is the year of elections. They are still undecided when exactly to hold the Referendum on the Security Agreement (SOFA) first it was in July and than changed to the same day as the National Elections in January 2010. I think it is leaning to Jan 2010 but I will keep you posted.
RV UPDATE
This is a subject where it gets people riled for no good reason in regards to a RV inside Iraq.
I will say things are moving in the right direction for Iraq just the usual ever so slowly pace when it comes to implementing anything in Iraq. If you understood why it is slow go back and read what the Iraq Government spokesperson said about the affairs in dealing with all the government departments in Iraq. Dated 27 May 2009 on the American Contractor blog. To implement an RV how many signatures would it take? If you say just one from the distinguished Dr. Shebebi you are mistaken. You have no idea how the Iraq government works.
There is no evidence as of right now of any movement in the currency that I have seen so far and my analysis is based on research, people I speak too, open source mediums which I have plenty of, and my network of professionals.
The Central Bank of Iraq has to complete the sale of the 3 Billion dollars worth of Treasury Bills. I wonder how many takers from private Iraqi banks will take up the offer at 12 months at 2% interest. This has to be completed first than Iraq can look at the IMF SBA loan. The CBI needs to know if in fact they can truly complete the total amount of the Treasury Bills sale of 3 Billion. I am not sure and will be watching closely.
More to follow...