Oil prices rose about three percent today, Monday, on fears that the escalation of the situation in the Middle East would disrupt oil supplies from the region.
Brent crude futures rose $2.30, or 2.91 percent, to $81.32 a barrel, and US crude futures rose $2.22, or 2.97 percent, to $77.05 a barrel.
Brent reached $81.35 a barrel during today’s trading session, the highest level in 11 days.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
Oil prices rose about three percent today, Monday, on fears that the escalation of the situation in the Middle East would disrupt oil supplies from the region.
Brent crude futures rose $2.30, or 2.91 percent, to $81.32 a barrel, and US crude futures rose $2.22, or 2.97 percent, to $77.05 a barrel.
Brent reached $81.35 a barrel during today’s trading session, the highest level in 11 days.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
The annual report of the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources confirmed that the second phase of the Jordanian-Iraqi electrical interconnection will be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to the workflow plan.
The report indicated, according to the Jordan News Agency (Petra), that civil and engineering works have begun to supply materials, electrical circuit breakers, transformers and their accessories, and to implement the 400 kV electrical transmission line.
It stated that the second phase of the connection includes supplying the Qaim area on the Iraqi side with electricity in a radial manner carrying 150-200 MW at a voltage of 400 kV after completing the construction of the transmission line with a length of 330 kV, in addition to completing the connection works at Al- Qaim 132/400 kV conversion station on the Iraqi side, and establishing the Risha 33/132/400 kV conversion station on the Jordanian side.
It pointed out that the first phase of the connection with the Iraqi side
, which entered into force in the first quarter of this year, included supplying the Rutba area on the Iraqi side with a voltage of 132 kV to feed it in a radial manner carrying 40 MW at a voltage of 132 kV after completing the construction of the transmission line from the Iraqi side with a length of 150 km.
The report indicated the preparation of all technical and economic studies and agreements related to the connection project with Saudi Arabia (the connection agreement, the operating agreement and the commercial agreement).
It added that the loan and guarantee agreements for the Jordanian-Saudi interconnection project were initialed with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, worth (22) million Kuwaiti dinars, equivalent to 71.6 million dollars, and are awaiting the signing of the agreements in preparation for the start of the project implementation.
Regarding the Jordanian-Egyptian interconnection, the report explained that the Jordanian electricity grid has been linked to the Egyptian gr
id simultaneously since 1999 with a 400 kV submarine cable extending across the Gulf of Aqaba for a length of 13 km and a capacity of 550 megawatts, as the contract for the exchange of electricity between the two countries is renewed annually, and work is underway to increase the capacity of the interconnection line between the two countries by adding a new submarine cable in two circuits, each circuit with a capacity of one thousand megawatts.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
The annual report of the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources confirmed that the second phase of the Jordanian-Iraqi electrical interconnection will be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to the workflow plan.
The report indicated, according to the Jordan News Agency (Petra), that civil and engineering works have begun to supply materials, electrical circuit breakers, transformers and their accessories, and to implement the 400 kV electrical transmission line.
It stated that the second phase of the connection includes supplying the Qaim area on the Iraqi side with electricity in a radial manner carrying 150-200 MW at a voltage of 400 kV after completing the construction of the transmission line with a length of 330 kV, in addition to completing the connection works at Al- Qaim 132/400 kV conversion station on the Iraqi side, and establishing the Risha 33/132/400 kV conversion station on the Jordanian side.
It pointed out that the first phase of the connection with the Iraqi side
, which entered into force in the first quarter of this year, included supplying the Rutba area on the Iraqi side with a voltage of 132 kV to feed it in a radial manner carrying 40 MW at a voltage of 132 kV after completing the construction of the transmission line from the Iraqi side with a length of 150 km.
The report indicated the preparation of all technical and economic studies and agreements related to the connection project with Saudi Arabia (the connection agreement, the operating agreement and the commercial agreement).
It added that the loan and guarantee agreements for the Jordanian-Saudi interconnection project were initialed with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, worth (22) million Kuwaiti dinars, equivalent to 71.6 million dollars, and are awaiting the signing of the agreements in preparation for the start of the project implementation.
Regarding the Jordanian-Egyptian interconnection, the report explained that the Jordanian electricity grid has been linked to the Egyptian gr
id simultaneously since 1999 with a 400 kV submarine cable extending across the Gulf of Aqaba for a length of 13 km and a capacity of 550 megawatts, as the contract for the exchange of electricity between the two countries is renewed annually, and work is underway to increase the capacity of the interconnection line between the two countries by adding a new submarine cable in two circuits, each circuit with a capacity of one thousand megawatts.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
Tel Aviv – Ma’an – The Israeli cabinet approved an increase of 3.4 billion shekels (about $923 million) to the state budget for 2024 to help finance evacuees until the end of the year, the Finance Ministry said.
Tens of thousands of Israelis in the north have moved into hotels following daily rocket attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7.
The decision to increase the budget also includes residents of towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli cabinet calls “conflict areas.”
The Finance Ministry said that NIS 525 million of the total budget returned to state coffers after previous spending cuts, while another NIS 200 million will be allocated to fund the army’s reserve forces.
The tourism sector is suffering
In Jerusalem’s Old City, almost all souvenir shops are closed, airlines have cancelled flights, businesses have ground to a halt, and half the rooms in luxury hotels are empty.
Nearly 11 months into the war, Israel’s economy is struggling
as the country’s leaders press ahead with an offensive that shows no sign of ending and threatens to escalate into a wider conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to calm fears by saying the economic damage is only temporary. But the deadliest and most destructive war ever between Israel and Hamas has damaged thousands of small businesses and dented outside confidence in an economy once seen as a powerhouse of entrepreneurship. Some leading economists see a ceasefire as the best way to stem the damage.
‘The economy is currently experiencing a lot of uncertainty, and it’s all about the security situation, how long the war will last, how intense it will be, and whether there will be further escalation,’ says Karnit Flug, a former governor of the Bank of Israel, who is now deputy head of research at the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank in Jerusalem.
The Israeli economy has previously recovered from shocks, including short wars against Hamas. But this longer war has created greater press
ure, including the cost of reconstruction, compensation for victims’ families, the call-up of reservists, and massive military spending.
The prolonged fighting and the threat of further escalation with Iran and Hezbollah have had a particularly negative impact on the tourism sector. Although tourism is not a major driver of the Israeli economy, the war has hurt thousands of workers and small businesses.
Trade sector
Once a bustling port, Haifa was a major import and export hub, often home to huge container ships. Now it is completely quiet.
With repeated attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group on ships passing through the Red Sea, many have abandoned stopping at Israeli ports, according to a port official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was revealing inside information.
He added that Israeli ports witnessed a 16 percent decrease in shipping in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2023.
Major airlines have also suspended flights to and from Israel.
Jacob Sheinin, an Israeli
economist and adviser to Israeli prime ministers and ministries for decades, said the total cost of the war could reach $120 billion, or 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Among the 38 member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Israel’s economy saw the biggest slowdown in the April-June period, the organization said Thursday.
Israel’s GDP was expected to grow by 3 percent in 2024, while the Bank of Israel now expects a growth rate of 1.5 percent – if the war ends this year.
Fitch also downgraded Israel’s rating from A+ to A earlier this month, following similar downgrades by Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s. A downgrade could push up the government’s borrowing costs.
Fitch warned in its downgrade note of the potential for ‘significant additional military spending, destruction of infrastructure, and further sustained damage to economic activity and investment,’ adding that ‘in our view, the conflict in Gaza could continue into 2025.’
In another worrying
sign, the Finance Ministry announced this month that the country’s deficit over the past 12 months had risen to more than 8 percent of GDP, a far bigger overshoot than the 6.6 percent of GDP deficit the ministry had forecast for 2024.
The budget deficit amounted to about 4 percent of GDP.
The credit rating downgrade and the deficit have increased pressure on the Israeli government to end the war and reduce the deficit, which may require unpopular decisions, such as raising taxes or cutting spending.
But Netanyahu needs to keep his coalition together, and his hardline finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is demanding that the war continue until Hamas is completely eliminated.
Flug, a former central bank governor, said the current situation was unsustainable and the coalition would have to cut spending, such as unpopular support for Haredi schools, which many Israelis view as wasteful.
“Israelis will have a hard time accepting this if the government does not make clear that the gravity of the situation forc
es it to give up some of the things they love,” Flug added.
Smotrich said the Israeli economy was “strong” and pledged to pass “a responsible budget that continues to support all wartime needs, while maintaining fiscal frameworks and strengthening growth engines.”
The unemployment rate fell below pre-war levels to 3.4 percent in July, compared to 3.6 percent in July 2023, Sheinin said. But when Israelis forced out of the labor market are taken into account, the rate rises to 4.8 percent, still considered low in most countries.
Meanwhile, many small businesses have closed their doors after their owners and employees were called up for military service as reservists, while the rest are struggling amid the slowing economy.
The Israeli business information company Coface BDI reported that about 46,000 companies have closed their doors since the start of the war, 75 percent of them small businesses.
Even the famous American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, whose guests include politicians, diplomats and movie stars
, has laid off workers and is considering wage cuts, said Jeremy Berkowitz, who represents the hotel’s owners.
“At one point we thought about closing for a few months, but that would of course mean laying off all the staff, and it would mean neglecting the gardens we have developed over decades, leaving them without care,” he added.
The best way to help the economy recover is to end the war, Sheinin said, adding, “But if we persist and continue this war, we will not recover.”
Source: Maan News Agency
Tel Aviv – Ma’an – The Israeli cabinet approved an increase of 3.4 billion shekels (about $923 million) to the state budget for 2024 to help finance evacuees until the end of the year, the Finance Ministry said.
Tens of thousands of Israelis in the north have moved into hotels following daily rocket attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7.
The decision to increase the budget also includes residents of towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli cabinet calls “conflict areas.”
The Finance Ministry said that NIS 525 million of the total budget returned to state coffers after previous spending cuts, while another NIS 200 million will be allocated to fund the army’s reserve forces.
The tourism sector is suffering
In Jerusalem’s Old City, almost all souvenir shops are closed, airlines have cancelled flights, businesses have ground to a halt, and half the rooms in luxury hotels are empty.
Nearly 11 months into the war, Israel’s economy is struggling
as the country’s leaders press ahead with an offensive that shows no sign of ending and threatens to escalate into a wider conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to calm fears by saying the economic damage is only temporary. But the deadliest and most destructive war ever between Israel and Hamas has damaged thousands of small businesses and dented outside confidence in an economy once seen as a powerhouse of entrepreneurship. Some leading economists see a ceasefire as the best way to stem the damage.
‘The economy is currently experiencing a lot of uncertainty, and it’s all about the security situation, how long the war will last, how intense it will be, and whether there will be further escalation,’ says Karnit Flug, a former governor of the Bank of Israel, who is now deputy head of research at the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank in Jerusalem.
The Israeli economy has previously recovered from shocks, including short wars against Hamas. But this longer war has created greater press
ure, including the cost of reconstruction, compensation for victims’ families, the call-up of reservists, and massive military spending.
The prolonged fighting and the threat of further escalation with Iran and Hezbollah have had a particularly negative impact on the tourism sector. Although tourism is not a major driver of the Israeli economy, the war has hurt thousands of workers and small businesses.
Trade sector
Once a bustling port, Haifa was a major import and export hub, often home to huge container ships. Now it is completely quiet.
With repeated attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group on ships passing through the Red Sea, many have abandoned stopping at Israeli ports, according to a port official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was revealing inside information.
He added that Israeli ports witnessed a 16 percent decrease in shipping in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2023.
Major airlines have also suspended flights to and from Israel.
Jacob Sheinin, an Israeli
economist and adviser to Israeli prime ministers and ministries for decades, said the total cost of the war could reach $120 billion, or 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Among the 38 member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Israel’s economy saw the biggest slowdown in the April-June period, the organization said Thursday.
Israel’s GDP was expected to grow by 3 percent in 2024, while the Bank of Israel now expects a growth rate of 1.5 percent – if the war ends this year.
Fitch also downgraded Israel’s rating from A+ to A earlier this month, following similar downgrades by Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s. A downgrade could push up the government’s borrowing costs.
Fitch warned in its downgrade note of the potential for ‘significant additional military spending, destruction of infrastructure, and further sustained damage to economic activity and investment,’ adding that ‘in our view, the conflict in Gaza could continue into 2025.’
In another worrying
sign, the Finance Ministry announced this month that the country’s deficit over the past 12 months had risen to more than 8 percent of GDP, a far bigger overshoot than the 6.6 percent of GDP deficit the ministry had forecast for 2024.
The budget deficit amounted to about 4 percent of GDP.
The credit rating downgrade and the deficit have increased pressure on the Israeli government to end the war and reduce the deficit, which may require unpopular decisions, such as raising taxes or cutting spending.
But Netanyahu needs to keep his coalition together, and his hardline finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is demanding that the war continue until Hamas is completely eliminated.
Flug, a former central bank governor, said the current situation was unsustainable and the coalition would have to cut spending, such as unpopular support for Haredi schools, which many Israelis view as wasteful.
“Israelis will have a hard time accepting this if the government does not make clear that the gravity of the situation forc
es it to give up some of the things they love,” Flug added.
Smotrich said the Israeli economy was “strong” and pledged to pass “a responsible budget that continues to support all wartime needs, while maintaining fiscal frameworks and strengthening growth engines.”
The unemployment rate fell below pre-war levels to 3.4 percent in July, compared to 3.6 percent in July 2023, Sheinin said. But when Israelis forced out of the labor market are taken into account, the rate rises to 4.8 percent, still considered low in most countries.
Meanwhile, many small businesses have closed their doors after their owners and employees were called up for military service as reservists, while the rest are struggling amid the slowing economy.
The Israeli business information company Coface BDI reported that about 46,000 companies have closed their doors since the start of the war, 75 percent of them small businesses.
Even the famous American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, whose guests include politicians, diplomats and movie stars
, has laid off workers and is considering wage cuts, said Jeremy Berkowitz, who represents the hotel’s owners.
“At one point we thought about closing for a few months, but that would of course mean laying off all the staff, and it would mean neglecting the gardens we have developed over decades, leaving them without care,” he added.
The best way to help the economy recover is to end the war, Sheinin said, adding, “But if we persist and continue this war, we will not recover.”
Source: Maan News Agency
The Iraqi National Olympic Committee announced the approval of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to launch the operational financial grants allocated to sports federations.
The Olympic Committee stated in a statement that “Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani received this morning the head of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, Aqil Muftan, the promising weightlifter Ali Ammar and his coach Ammar Yasser, and Al-Sudani listened to a brief presentation presented by Muftan on the national Olympic scene and the approach of the Executive Office seeking to achieve an international Olympic medal in the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics.”
It added that the Prime Minister approved the proposals and requests submitted by the Head of the Olympic Committee to launch operational financial grants allocated to national sports federations and allocate a plot of land with an area of 300 acres in a distinguished location in the capital, Baghdad, to establish ideal headquarters for the Olympic Committee and
its sports federations and to establish an integrated Olympic Academy that enjoys his direct sponsorship and the supervision of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, which is considered a building block for the Olympic Champion Project launched by the Iraqi National Olympic Committee and received the attention and sponsorship of the Sudanese government.
It explained that “the Prime Minister confirmed during the meeting the government’s continued provision of full support and assistance to sports in all its forms.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
Minister of Youth and Sports Ahmed Al-Mubarqa confirmed: “The governmental and popular effort is directed towards supporting our national team with the aim of reaching the 2026 World Cup.”
The minister said during his inspection of the ongoing work at Al-Minaa Stadium: “This beautiful stadium, which hosted the 25th Gulf Championship, must be bright and complementary to the sports facilities in Basra, so the Ministry of Youth attaches special importance to maintenance and rehabilitation work in it,” noting that the company implementing the rehabilitation work violated the terms in terms of quality and timing, so the Ministry of Youth will undertake its full rehabilitation.
He explained: “The governmental effort at the highest levels is directed towards achieving the aspirations of our sports fans for our national team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency
