Bilateral free trade pacts will benefit GCC, says US

[Jerry]

Published: 9/3/2005

The United States will put its weight behind the GCC as a bloc but will conclude Free Trade Agreements on a bilateral basis with the member states including Saudi Arabia, a US official said yesterday...

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/BusinessNF.asp?ArticleID=155331

[Templecityboy]

Published: 9/3/2005

The United States will put its weight behind the GCC as a bloc but will conclude Free Trade Agreements on a bilateral basis with the member states including Saudi Arabia, a US official said yesterday...

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/BusinessNF.asp?ArticleID=155331
Jerry, what do you think about question # 7 on the dinar test? It's not good news. Here's the link:
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz.cfm?qid=167106&origin=

[Jerry]

In reguards to "news" it is nothing more than perception of "fact" (however not TRUE fact) of the individual viewing it or writing it, be it good bad or indifferent.

To some people out there this is not good news because it means that the currency or notes would change and they may not be able to convert to the new currency or note if Iraq were to close its boarders and do the conversion. This has been hased out time and time again.

To other people it is good news because they hedged, and opend a bank account in Iraq. To these people it would be seen as "good" due to the fact that the last time there was a note change, everything INSIDE a bank account automaticly rolled over into the new currency because it was all electronic. These people know that they will be uneffected by a note or currency change and if there was one that would mean that the value of what they had would most likely increase. While others who simply have only hard cash stand to lose everything.

Sure they would lose what they had in hand if such a thing were to happen, but they know they are atleast partialy covered. All text books aside, the potential gains made by hedging with a bank account would far exceed the loss of what was initially invested for the cash in hand. So this would be seen as "good".

Like I said before this is a real possibility, however it was not to be expected for atleast 5 years when the rest fot the gulf converted to one Dinar backed by oil and pegged to the dollar.

Bottom line is it IS a transitional currency, they can close their boarders and change it again if they wanted to, although in the eyes of many this would be some what a foolish choice, they none the less have that right to change. Those who have bank accounts there would be the only ones protected.