Tishwash: Saleh: High oil prices will push the government to prepare a supplementary budget
The Prime Minister's Adviser for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed, on Monday, that when oil prices greatly exceed and fill the deficit, there will be a supplementary budget in the middle of the year, and the budget will be reviewed.
Saleh said in a statement reported by Al-Sabah newspaper and seen by Al-Eqtisad News, that "the general budget from 2004 to 2019 is based on speculative prices, except for the years (2014 and 2020), as there was no budget, and the price of a barrel of oil comes conservatively in the budget. It generates a hypothetical deficit and needs regulation. "
He added that bridging the deficit comes through external or internal borrowing, but the final revenues of the budget, as a result of the differences in oil prices or oil rents, usually extinguish part of the borrowings and replace them, and the possibility that the deficit will be filled, and thus there is a surplus.
He explained that "when oil prices greatly exceed and fill the deficit, there will be a supplementary budget in the middle of the year, and the budget is being reviewed, and this is what is found in the Financial Management Law. link
Harambe: CNBC: Oil rises on fears of heightened tensions in Middle East … Brent Crude to $63.35
(2:15/21)
Oil prices rose to their highest in more than a year on Monday, after a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it intercepted an explosive-laden drone fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi group, raising fears of fresh Middle East tensions.
Hopes for more U.S. stimulus and an easing of coronavirus lockdowns helped support the rally, after prices gained around 5% last week.
Brent crude was up 66 cents, or 1.1%, at $63.09 a barrel at 0004 GMT, after climbing to a session high of $63.44, the highest since Jan. 22, 2020.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 86 cents, or 1.5%, to $60.33 a barrel. It touched the highest since Jan. 8 last year of $60.77 earlier in the session.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said late on Sunday it intercepted and destroyed an explosive-laden drone fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi group toward the kingdom, state TV reported.
"An early spike in oil markets was triggered by the news," said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co.
"But the rally was also driven by growing hopes that a U.S. stimulus and easing of lockdowns will boost the economy and fuel demand," he said. WTI may be pulled back by profit-taking as it reached a key $60 level, he added.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/15/oil-markets-middle-east.html
Tishwash: Iraq: An Iranian hotline with Al-Sadr, Al-Maliki and Al-Amiri to heal the rift in the Shiite wall
With the announcement of the coordination coordination for the demonstrations in Baghdad, the emergence of a youth political entity that would soon participate in the upcoming elections, Iran began an accelerated movement with the leaders of the Shiite forces to create a unified Shiite front in exchange for the October coordinators, which will constitute an important figure in the upcoming voting process.
A source in the State of Law coalition headed by Nuri al-Maliki revealed to (Akhbar Al-Khaleej) about contacts made by Iranian leaders with Nuri al-Maliki, Hadi al-Omari and Muqtada al-Sadr to bring their views closer after intense arguments floated to the surface between al-Maliki and al-Sadr.
The source indicated that the Iranian guide was informed of the depth of the differences between the Shiite forces, especially after the parade organized by Muqtada al-Sadr's supporters in Baghdad, which showed the weakness of other Shiite parties before Al-Sadr and his followers.
He pointed out that the Iranians are concerned about al-Sadr's departure from their control and his enjoyment of a wide popular base threatening or marginalizing the rest of the Shiite forces, hence Khamenei's personal interest and directed to open a hotline with the main leaders who dominate the Shiite movement.
The source also said that the commander of the Quds Force, Ismail Qaani, may visit Iraq in the coming days to hold a closed and urgent meeting with the heads of the Shiite forces and inform them of the Iranian Supreme Leader's orders of the necessity of unification.
However, the same source confirmed that Muqtada al-Sadr stipulated a basic condition for attending the meeting, which is that the Iranians provide him with guarantees that Nuri al-Maliki will not run for the presidency of the government that follows the upcoming elections.
Al-Sadr's office revealed in a statement that Muqtada al-Sadr's followers are estimated at five million Iraqis, which is a large number and has fundamental effects on the election results in which Iran's followers fear the Sadrists 'superiority link