Iraq Dinar Speculation

Iraqi Finance Minister, Bayan Jabor

The SBA, or “Stand By Agreement”, is being considered for a third renewal. Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabor is warning of an impending crisis if the price of oil and the volume of exports remains at current levels. Oil exports are down slightly, while the price of oil is down about two thirds.

The previous IMF (International Money Fund) Stand By Agreements were put in place when Iraq needed to borrow less than $1 billion dollars -  this time around, they are looking at $5-7 billion USD.

Iraq has received a proposal from the IMF secure the loan, but Iraqi lawmakers are hesitant due to “tough” conditions.

Bayan Jabor declined to say what these conditions might be, but said there was

“sensitivity to any conditions that would dictate oil or currency policy, for example.”

Entering into another agreement will limit Iraq’s ability to control their own currency, the Iraqi Dinar, among other things.

Source: Arabian News

In a post several days ago, we asked the readers of this site to send in a prediction of revaluation date. We wanted to know how many people thought it would happen before or after the ISX went digital.

382 people responded “After”, 14 said “Before”. That gives the DinarSpeculation readers a 96.5% prediction accuracy rating – good job, everyone!

Seriously – thanks for weighing in with your opinions. We have a couple people in mind that we will be calling on in the future for input, you’ll read about it on the main page here when it happens. Stay tuned!

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq’s Stock Exchange (ISX) launched an electronic trading system during its Sunday session, where 950,000 shares were traded at a value of 1.46 million Iraqi dinars (ID) by implementing 15 contracts.

I was expecting a little more than that, but hey – it’s a good start!

Link: Aswat al-Iraq

First 5 companies go digital on ISX

Today was a monumental occasion for Iraq as it’s Stock Exchange moved 5 companies to digital format. Overall results are positive, particularly for stocks like Hotel al-Mansour, which rose 20% in the first hour.

Link: Trade Arabia

Now here’s a really interesting article!

Vice President Adil Abd Al-Mahdi brought a message this week to France, a country which he sees as a major partner in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Dr Abd Al-Mahdi, an influential figure in Iraqi politics, says Iraq is of a country firmly on the way to national reconciliation and revival.

Iraq is unique in the world in having more than 50 oilfields ready for development. It is urgently looking for foreign investment in its oil and gas industry, but also in every aspect of its smashed infrastructure.

And it gets even more interesting when you get to the end of the article:

One surprise announcement is that Iraq and Iran are renegotiating the Algiers accord reached between Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran in 1975. The agreement – which Saddam tore up five years later when he launched his attack on Iran — demarcated the disputed river boundary between the two neighbours according to the thalweg line in the middle of the Shatt Al-Arab waterway.

Iraq now claims that the boundary needs to be redrawn closer to the Iranian shore because of changes in the course of the Shatt. The fact that the Maliki government has chosen to raise this contentious issue with its close ally Iran is itself a signal that Iraqi national interests are being reasserted.

One way and another, a revived and ambitious Iraq is putting the horrors of the past 30 years behind. It can be safely predicted that it will, in the not too distant future, be once again a power to be reckoned with.

We completely agree.

Source: Zawya.com

Baghdad, April 15: Rafeaa al-Eissawi (Iraqi Deputy Premier) calls on the people to find alternatives to oil revenues. 

“Iraq has all elements to develop the agriculture and animal sectors which could positively affect Iraq’s economy,”

Source: Aswat al-Iraq

Dinar Speculation Admin Note: To ensure the stability and future success of Iraq, and in order to make any moves in the currency, the country absolutely must support themselves in more ways than simply oil. Although Iraq is one of the wealthiest nations in the world when measured by nearly immediately accessible natural resources, not everyone can work on an oil rig. There must be balance to ensure prosperity!

Those of you on the mailing list know of the rumors flying around, and you also know most of the truths behind them, thanks to the hardworking staff at Dinar Speculation.

Here’s a true challenge – click the “Contact Us” link and send a simple “before” or “after” message. We’re really looking forward to hearing from those of you that keep your thoughts to yourself most of the time – your opinion matters. This will be a 100% anonymous poll, no information other than raw numbers will be posted on the 20th.

So – plenty of people thing the Dinar will RV BEFORE the 19th of April, and some of you think it will RV AFTER the 19th. Click here and say “before” or “after” – the results will be posted on the 20th.

Advisor to the CBI (Central Bank of Iraq) Mohammed Saleh states that the monetary policies of the CBI has contributed to the consistent stability of the Iraqi Dinar compared to the US Dollar, and the CBI intends to keep enforcing strict policies.

Source: Non14.com (Translated by google here.)

Editors note: This statement means nothing… simply lip service to the higher ups, stating the blatantly obvious, in order to keep the machine moving. One notable fact – the Iraqi Dinar is incredibly steady. In fact, you could almost guarantee that it has nowhere to go… but UP.

Stay tuned!

This was just sent in by a reader, thanks Brad!

“Investors runing scared…”

Of the 17 currencies that make up its trade-weighted basket, sterling has fallen against all but three. It has even fallen against the Hungarian forint – a currency that has already received two dollops of IMF aid; and believe it or not, the Iraqi dinar.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Dinar Speculation Opinion: There are, of course, many reasons to invest in Iraqi Dinar. I’m not going to tell you to run out and spend your life savings… but if you’re investing in anything, doesn’t it make sense to put some money in a proven winner? There are a lot of speculative reasons to stick your hard earned dough in Iraqi Dinar, but one fact is this:  Today, April 12 2009, the Iraqi Dinar is at 1170IQD:1USD. Look at the graph below: July of 2006, about 3 years ago, the Iraqi Dinar was at 1480IQD:1USD.

Iraqi Dinar 2006 to May 2009

Let’s work with a shorter time frame, though. Although the line on the graph is going down, the value of the IQD is going up. If you had invested $10,000 in Iraqi Currency back in 2006, your investment would now be worth…

Iraqi Dinar - July 2007 to now.

Well, not a whole hell of a lot more. The appreciation from 1350IQD per $1 to 1170IQD to $1USD is only 7.4%, but let me ask you this… would you have rather made 7.4% with a possible HUGE return in the event of a revaluation of the currency, or are you happier losing 27% with that money in your 401k? (One source of many: MSN Money.)

I know where my bets are being placed. Stay tuned, the Dinar Speculation team has some exciting announcements in the works. If you haven’t done so already, bookmark the site and tell your friends and trusted advisors to check it out!