Thanks ya'll, but I am just like all of you-- PRAYING that they can put differences aside and FINISH the task at hand.
Someone asked me in private email about fiat currency and whether the dinar is really a fiat currency. The answer is most definetly, YES it is. People confuse the fact that Iraq will be able to monetize their future oil production (after moving from IMF Art. XIV to IMF Art. VII) with the assumption that this means the currency is 'backed by oil'.
It may be semantics, but it is important semantics. As long as currencies are pegged to other currencies, i.e., the dollar for example, then they TOO are fiat currencies. So faith in the currency = faith in the government backing that currency.
The currency regime Iraq is under is pegged to a fiat currency, the US dollar, and as such, the dinar too is fiat based. When the US came off the gold standard it set up the exchange rate system the world is under now, which means all currencies are fiat. See IMF document here: http://www.imf.org/e...04/eng/0604.htm and this link:http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Fiat_money As such, the faith people have in the governments backing that currency are absolutely relevant. Stability and security therefore of the government are DIRECTLY related to the faith in the government, and therefore the faith in the currency. Shabibi is not going to RV anything until those get settled.
Also, some have said the HCL needs to be done before the RV too. Weeeelll..."maybe" -- "maybe not".
If you look at point 11 of the Kurdish demands that are the basis of the Erbil Agreement, it suggests they have a year AFTER the complete formation of the government. This suggest to me that once they finish naming the ministers and exit Ch. VII, they actually have a year to pass the HCL. Here's the excerpt:
11. Approving the finally agreed-upon draft law of oil and gas in a year’s time following the formation of the government.
Now, assuming they have not changed this, then no-- they do not have to have the HCL in place first. But since all the agreements have not been available publicly, we can't really know for sure. I just have to assume that the 18 points of the 19 Kurdish demands were not changed.
Also, please do not take this as negative or get down about this. Facts keep us grounded and not flying off the rollercoaster with every rumor that 'it's done' when it isn't. I quit listening to certain gurus who kept proclaiming "it's done" a long time ago when I discovered them getting SIMPLE and easily verified FACTS incorrect (documented proof that anyone could find). If some say the GOI is not required for the RV, they are either saying that wishfully, or they are just mistaken. If some say the GOI and ministers are already named, they are either saying that wishfully, or they too are mistaken. I encourage ya'll to go read the history of this GOI process in the wiki link and the BBC article above-- as it tells you just how fragile this is between them. If they had come to ANY kind of agreement and named ministers and resolved everything, there would have been no need for the concerted effort of the US and UN to keep applying pressure to finish it.
I am PRAYING for "before Summer"-- before June 21st. That's my hope. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a nice birthday present this Sunday.
I'm sure you all know what I'll be wishing for!
