"Game of Hardball" - Tues. AM KTFA Thoughts/News 2/12/19

by **Ssmith** Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:17 am

KTFA

Dan » February 12th, 2019

The meetings that were supposed to happen this week were cancelled and rescheduled for summer. I believe those meetings will never be needed.

I believe the US & fab4 are playing hardball for there own financial benefits.

If the US & fab4 don't have whatever they want, is not happy with what they are getting from Iraq they can push the T&T's off to a latter date as well and push Iraq to the edge of the cliff.

I believe the US wants a stranglehold on everything for themselves.

Game of hardball in progress.

30 day contracts that were signed on Jan. 13,19 will mature tomorrow.

Still have 60, & 90 day contracts active.

I believe value of IQD is going up.

I believe everything is not being announced yet because USA & fab4 wants all the contracts, business investments and all they can lock down for themselves first and leave scraps for other countries and investors IMO

Realtormc » February 12th, 2019

The contracts are not for our eyes, and they will be paid ELECTRONICALLY. Unless we see a transaction receipt, we will never know if and when the contracts were paid. IMO

Re: Franks Recorded Updates:

SMN » February 12th, 2019

Main take away... Taxes & Tariffs (T & T) are to go into effect on Feb. 17th. Need an RI rate, not a PR to do so., IMO after listening to the recording

Iobey777 » February 12th, 2019

Also, the budget needs the rate to be activated, As Frank has told us, the budget needs the RI, not the RI needs the budget!! We wait now for them to show us their new rate!! IMO!

Samson » February 12th, 2019

US defense secretary arrives in Baghdad

2019/2/12 10:25

US Defense Secretary Patrick Chanahan arrived in Baghdad on a surprise visit.

Shanahan, who arrived in Afghanistan on Wednesday, also made his first surprise visit to Afghanistan after he took office. He also discussed with Afghani officials the war on terror and US negotiations with the Taliban. LINK

Washington unveils goal of US defense secretary's visit to Baghdad

US Defense Secretary Patrick Chanahan arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday for an undeclared visit.

The US State Department said the visit "aims to emphasize the importance of Iraq's sovereignty and discuss the future of US forces there." The visit comes after US President Donald Trump said this month that the US presence was needed to monitor Iran.

On his first visit to Iraq, Chanahan planned to discuss the withdrawal of US troops from Syria with US commanders and meet with Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. LINK

Writers, artists and publishers from Iraq and around the world take part in Baghdad International Book Fair 2019, a vibrant and creative celebration of the written word. Watch this video to find out more. pic.twitter.com/M9pmdRbr7f — Government of Iraq - (@IraqiGovt) February 12, 2019

World Gold: Iraq maintains its global position with its reserves of gold for the month of February

12th February, 2019

Iraq has maintained its global position with its gold reserves for the month of February, noting that the United States ranked first in the world and Solomon Island last in the ranking of countries

"Iraq has maintained its global position with 37 gold reserves for February of 100 countries listed in the international financial statistics of the global reserves of gold and the fifth place in the Arab world, which came after both Saudi Arabia and Lebanon Algeria and Libya

The Council added that "Iraq has reserves of gold of 96.3 tons, representing 6.7% of the rest of the other currencies, noting that Iraq bought in September of 2018 by 6.5 tons

The Council pointed out that "the world's reserves of gold for the month of February amounted to 33 thousand and 869 tons, noting that" the United States of America ranked first in the world in terms of reserves, which amounted to 8.133.5 tons, followed by Germany with 3.369 tons, "The last place is 0.7 tons

The World Gold Council, based in the United Kingdom, has extensive experience and deep knowledge of the drivers of market change and its members are among the world's largest and most advanced gold mining companies LINK

Oil continues to rise due to OPEC

2019/2/12 12:12

The price of oil rose on Tuesday amid OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, although some analysts expect rising US production and concerns about economic growth to curb crude markets. By 0751 GMT, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude futures was $ 52.69 a barrel, up 28 cents, or 0.5 percent, from the previous settlement.

Traders said the continued closure of parts of the Keystone pipeline, which carries Canadian oil to the United States, also contributed to support for US crude. Brent crude for the week rose 38 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $ 61.89 a barrel. Some analysts said supply was on the market amid OPEC-led producer cuts and US sanctions against Venezuela and Iran.

Some said, however, that the inherent risks on the supply side were not sufficiently focused. "We believe that oil does not take into account the risks inherent in the recent supply as the markets are currently focusing on the US-China trade talks, ignoring the risk of loss of Venezuelan barrels," JP Morgan said in a weekly note. US crude oil production, which is usually light, has resulted in an abundance of gasoline production, Morgan Stanley said. US crude oil output increased more than 2 million bpd last year to a record 11.9 million bpd. LINK

The results of the foreign currency sale window on Wednesday, 2019/213, and executed on Tuesday, 2019/2/12 LINK

2Cents » February 12th, 2019

Biggest auction since 2/3..........budget posted at 1182......3 days and then to MOF who has 30 days to "open" and remit payments but we already know that they are already preparing the instructions for implementation......IMO, if they remit monies quickly, we should not look to any "imminent" rate change.

Of course in accordance with Article 71 in the 2019 budget, the budget is retro to 1/1 as it always is but once monies are paid out of the 2019 budget, you cannot retro to prior as if those payments were never made.

We will watch what the MOF does. Hopefully, there is a delay before "opening" the budget until a RD/RV occurs. We know they have said that they are not remitting payments to Kurdistan until March and now there is talk of Parliament returning before the end of February.

This keeps the February window open IMO. Let's watch what they do especially the MOF.

Samson » February 12th, 2019

(USD = 3.7502)

Saudi Arabia needs an oil price of $ 80-85 to match its budget

12th February, 2019

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, will need a price of $ 80 to $ 85 a barrel for its budget this year, an IMF official said

The price of oil, which balances the revenues and expenditures of the Riyadh budget, depends on several factors, including the level of oil production, the volume of Saudi oil revenues being transferred to the budget, and the level of non-oil revenues this year

"But with the (2019) budget going to stay the same and everything remains unchanged, the break-even point will be around $ 80-85," said Jihad Azour, director of the Middle East and Central Asia department at the International Monetary Fund. "For the price of a barrel of oil
Oil prices fell more than 30 percent from a peak above $ 86 a barrel in October. Brent crude was trading around $ 62 a barrel on Monday

Such price volatility has had an impact on public finances and economic growth in all oil-exporting countries

"This will not affect their ability to finance themselves," Azour said. "When we look at Saudi Arabia, the spreads are very narrow, but it has an impact on the financial accounts

Saudi Arabia has increasingly borrowed from major debt markets after oil prices fell since mid-2014, and this has had no impact on the country's revenues

Azour said the increase in the kingdom's debt was not a matter of concern, especially when compared to the size of the country's foreign exchange reserves and in light of positive investor sentiment

After years of fiscal tightening and poor growth, Riyadh plans to increase state spending this year to boost the economy. Expenditure is expected to rise to a record high of 1.106 trillion riyals ($ 294.92 billion) from 1.030 trillion riyals in 2018

Azour said the Saudi government could provide additional incentives, but its top priority must remain budget control by 2023 LINK