.Delta and KTFA Members Thursday 4-12-18

4/12/2018


KTFA:

DELTA: BLAST FROM THE PAST FOR YOU....... WS...

TV: Rafidain Bank in Dhi Qar confirms that the introduction of ATM depends on deleting zeros from currency.

Wed, 10 Dec 2014

Ahmed Hassan: Said the director of the Rafidain Bank in Dhi Qar Hussein Abbadi in a televised interview broadcast by the local Nasiriyah that the introduction of ATM in the markets and banks are subject to the implementation of the decision to delete zeros from the Iraqi currency, pointing out that the Iraqi currency suffers from large inflation at the present time.

http://www.nasiriyah.org/ara/post/55155

Note: When KTFA uses bright red in its posts- IT IS IMPORTANT!!!!
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TSReddy: Thanks Delta for the "BLAST FROM THE PAST". Looking forward to it happening now. Blessings.

DELTA: (Big Smile)

Frank26: YOU TOOK PART OF FRIDAY TEAM CHAT.......... LOL !!...... LOVE YOU DELTA \M/

Harley1: As I understand it, when it comes time to turn on the ATM's, they'll be given 24 hours notice to do so.... which sounds a lot like...."have 'em ready boys, 'cause when it's go-time....it's time to go!"

Leb: When people laugh because I am a believer in Iraq reinstatement....remember....Noah was an idiot until it started raining.

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Dr.Davis316: Just read this off the CBI for 10-11/4/2018

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mr. Ali Mohsen Ismail and his accompanying delegation representing Iraq participated with the Ministry of Finance at the 41st annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Arab Monetary Fund held in the Dead Sea area of ​​the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for the period 10-11 April 2018.

During this meeting, a number of important topics were discussed. The most important of these was the system of settlements and clearing for Arab payments, which would provide an environment for financial transfers between the Arab countries and thus enhance Arab trade and Arab economic integration.

For its part, the Fund has paid great attention to the achievement of cooperation and exchange of experiences in the field of monetary policies among the Arab countries and coordination of their positions in international forums and meetings as well as strengthening coordination between central banks and Arab monetary institutions in various fields related to the work of these banks.

He also stressed the assistance in exchanging experiences and experiences between central banks, and thus these steps will achieve monetary cooperation among Arab countries in order to reach a common formula in the construction of monetary policies

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Samson: Oil markets are concerned about the Middle East crisis

12th April,2018

Oil markets remained tense on Thursday amid fears of a military escalation in Syria, although prices remained below Wednesday's highest level, the highest since late 2014, as the abundance of US supplies has weighed on the market

Traders say trade disputes between the United States and China have kept the market anxious

By 0536 GMT, global crude oil futures were up $ 72.14 a barrel, up 8 cents, or 0.1 percent, from the previous close

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose to $ 67.03 a barrel, up 21 cents, or 0.3 percent, from the previous settlement price

In China, Shanghai crude futures also rose 8.9 yuan to 427.1 yuan ($ 68.03) a barrel, up 2.1 percent, on record volumes for contracts launched in late March

Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude hit their highest levels since late 2014 at $ 73.09 and $ 67.45 a barrel on Wednesday, after Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted rockets over Riyadh and US President Donald Trump warned Russia of imminent military action in Syria

Current fears of a prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China have also kept the market anxious

Despite market tension, supplies remain plentiful, especially in the United States

US oil inventories rose 3.3 million barrels to 428.64 million barrels

At the same time, the US crude oil production last week reached a new record of 10.53 million barrels per day, up by a quarter compared to the level in mid-2016 LINK

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Sunkissed: Frank, OPEC would like to see prices go to $88 per barrel! Saudi's NEED $83.00 per barrel. I just thought you would find this interesting.

Saudi Arabia’s $80 Oil Target Could Backfire

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Apr 11, 2018, 6:00 PM CDT

Although OPEC and allies have never officially targeted any specific price of oil with the production cut agreement, each member of the pact knows very well where they want oil prices to be in order to balance their budgets that have been stretched thin in the price plunge.

OPEC’s largest producer and de facto leader—Saudi Arabia—is the most closely watched oil nation for hints about an unofficial oil price target, and speculation has been ripe since the start of the deal in January 2017 as to what price the Kingdom is aiming for.

For months, Saudi Arabia has been said to aim for oil at $70 a barrel, but now new hints and reports suggest that Riyadh is likely shooting for oil at $80—to help finance increasingly ambitious domestic policy plans and to boost the valuation of its oil giant Aramco ahead of its much-hyped IPO.

If this unofficial oil price target were reached, however, it could backfire spectacularly on both sides of the oil-market-balance equation—supply and demand.

$80 oil would trigger an even bigger U.S. crude oil production surge that could unravel OPEC’s efforts at eliminating the glut. Oil at $80 could also slow down global oil demand growth, undermining one of the cartel and friends’ key assumptions: that robust demand growth will absorb the non-OPEC supply and that demand growth will continue to be strong going forward. Last year, oil demand growth surprised a bit on the upside, helping bloated inventories to draw down significantly.

Yet, targeting $80 oil—if we assume that Saudi Arabia is doing that—has its economic reasons. According to RBC Capital Markets, OPEC’s producers need oil even higher—at an average of $88 a barrel—to balance their public spending this year, Bloomberg Gadfly’s Liam Denning writes. Related: Permian Bottleneck Could Impact Global Oil Markets

For Saudi Arabia, the price of oil needed to balance the 2018 public spending is $83 a barrel. The OPEC member that needs the ‘lowest’ price of oil to balance this year’s expenditure is Iran, at $52 a barrel, according to data by RBC Capital Markets.

It comes as little surprise then that Saudi Arabia and Iran—apart from the tense regional archrivalry—are reportedly at odds over where to go next with the OPEC deal, and how high an oil price the cartel should target. Iran is reportedly suggesting that $60 oil is about right so as not to encourage U.S. shale (even more), while Saudi Arabia is in need of higher-than-$60 oil to balance budget spending and lift Aramco’s valuation to anywhere close to the US$2 trillion that officials have been targeting.

It also comes as little surprise that the latest hint that the Saudis are likely targeting $80 oil is not universally shared among all OPEC members, according to Bloomberg sources who relayed the Saudi ambition for said target. Some nations have privately expressed concern that such a price would be too comfortable for U.S. shale.

It may very well be. At Brent above $60 and WTI at a $3-4 a barrel discount, U.S. crude oil production has exceeded 10 million bpd in each of the weeks in February and March, EIA data shows. The Permian continues to boom, and even in case of takeaway capacity constraints—which have led to around $11 a barrel discount of Midland, Texas, oil to Brent—Permian producers would pump at profit if Brent were to rise (and stay) at $80, Bloomberg’s Denning argues.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Saudi-Arabias-80-Oil-Target-Could-Backfire.html
Samson: International Monetary Fund warns of increasing debt of countries covered by the "Silk Roads" Chinese

12th April, 2018

International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday, the risk of increasing debt in the countries that invest in China within its broad scope of the consolidation of trade relations.

Fund director Christine Lagarde told Agence France-Presse that there were risks of increasing debt in countries where China invests in the context of its large-scale program to carry out infrastructure projects overseas in an effort to cement its trade ties.

This comes in a speech in Beijing on the occasion of a forum on the "New Silk Road" initiative, a major project initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 to establish roads, harbors, railways and industrial parks in Asia, Africa and the Middle East to the doors of Europe.

Although the 70-nation initiative is initially based on joint investment with the parties concerned, many of these workshops are actually financed by loans granted by Chinese enterprises. Some Western countries see this as a deliberate strategy by China to consolidate and expand its influence.

Lagarde, speaking to an audience of Chinese and foreign officials, acknowledged that "silk roads" could meet the "critical need for infrastructure" in different parts of the world and provide funding to countries she "desperately needs".

However, they warned that such partnerships "could also lead to increased indebtedness (of the countries concerned) and reduce their other costs as debt costs increase." "In countries facing high public debt, dealing with financing conditions prudently is essential," she said.

Indeed, China's public development banks and other financial institutions in Asia's first economic power are lending heavily to finance projects in the "New Silk Road" countries, putting borrowers in a financial position they can not face.

This is true of Sri Lanka, which received huge loans from China to build a port, forcing it under the pressure of a "spiral of indebtedness" to give up its share of the port specifically to China. Lagarde called for more collective investments and greater transparency.

She stressed that "it must be ascertained that silk roads do not lead to where they should not." "In large-scale projects, there is a tendency to take advantage of the drawbacks of tenders, there is always the risk of some projects failing or the risk of misappropriation of funds.

However, Xi Jinping himself responded Tuesday to criticism of his plan at the Boao Forum. "It is neither a Marshall Plan nor a Chinese plot, an initiative that follows its course in broad daylight," he said, according to the official Xinhua news agency. LINK