A ceremony was held in Basra today to remember the 179 UK soldiers lost over the last 6 years in Iraq. British forces have formally ended operations in Iraq.
“Today marks the closing chapter of the combat mission in Iraq. The flag of 20 Armoured Brigade will be lowered as British combat patrols in Basra come to an end and our armed forces prepare to draw down.”
Several of the Dinar Speculation staffers were unable to access their accounts at Warka bank online, and we’ve discovered this is why:
We here would like to offer you our apologies because our e-banking services will be stopped temporarily till Sunday morning in order to update our core. banking system.
Link: Warka-Bank
Since we’re “speculating”, it’s pretty easy to hope something big is happening here! Anyone got an idea what it could be? Send it in or post in the comments section here!
April 29, 2009 (Reuters)
In case you were interested – check out this list of key dates for Iraq’s first bidding round for oil service contracts, which should be in place by mid-2009. Iraqi government expects to extract 1.5 million barrels of crude per day from these fields in addition to current oil production.
Dr. Sheltagh Aboud Sherad (the new governor of Basra, Iraq) said he plans on making the southern province into the economic center of Iraq. Governor Sherad spoke this morning after receiving his placement in the role. Governor Dr. Sheltagh Aboud Sherad plans to redefine Basra after 30 years of marginalization.
The new government will spare no effort to provide citizens with best services despite the fewness of the financial allocations.
One more time: “The new government will spare no effort...”
Shares traded today on the Iraqi Stock Exchange went over 383 million for a total traded value of over 747 million Iraqi Dinars in 307 trades. 13 companies rose, 14 fell, and 17 kept steady for a total of 44 traded companies on the ISX.
In the spotlight – the Industry sector. Stocks in the Iraqi Industry sector commanded 45% of the trades.
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) reported the successful launch of Iraq Stock Exchange’s (ISX) new trading and clearing system based on NASDAQ OMX technology. This is a historical time in Iraq as they move to electronic trading.
Lars Ottersgard, Senior Vice President NASDAQ OMX Market Technology says:
“We are pleased and honored to provide a trading platform to ISX that will act to increase its visibility and credibility towards foreign investors. An efficient trading and clearing system is instrumental in creating investor awareness and thus attract liquidity, and we are confident that this new platform will support continued growth at ISX.”
Only 5 of the 91 companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange are available for electronic trading so far. Stay tuned!
Despite the dramatic fall in oil prices and the thrice cut budget as a result, Iraqi Government spokesman Ali al-Dabagh says Central Bank reserves will not be touched. These reserves, by the way, are rumored to amount to 70 billion in cold hard cash.
The conviction comes in part from agreements with several oil fields to increase oil exports to more than 2 billion barrels per day.
Source: Azzaman.com
Oil export bans in Iraq cost millions per day. Kirkuk a major piece of the plot.
According to a top official, Baghdad’s refusal to allow Kurds to export oil is costing Iraq millions of dollars per day.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s natural resources minister said in an interview:
Iraq is losing millions and millions of dollars a day. We lost several billion dollars last year by not exporting from Kurdistan, Ashti Hawrami….
The real cause behind the issue seems to be al-Maliki’s tight grip on the Kurds in the fight to establish borders. Particularly sensitive is the dispute over the city Kirkuk.
Link: Zawya.com
According to this article from last month, Economy Day will be held this week. It will aim towards boosting the private sector.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=110459
Anyone have any info?
The province of Kirkuk has been in the news quite a bit recently, from new reserves of oil being discovered to disputes of governing power and policy. The UN released a report yesterday proposing details on how to end the decades long dispute over the very valuable and pivotal part of Iraq.
The response to the report from Talabani, Maliki, and Barzani was “broadly positive” when de Mistura briefed them in advance of the document’s handover, a UN official said on condition of anonymity.
The report is not yet available, we will report more as it becomes known.
Source: Al Jazeera