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By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 33 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Tuesday.

A total of $132,094,314 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

On Aug. 30, the Iraqi Integrity Court announced the recovery of the head of the statue of King Sanatruq I, who reigned from roughly 140 to 180, which is an important Babylonian monument that is registered in the records of the Iraqi Museum of Antiquities. The head was stolen in April 2003. Also in August, Iraq recovered 483 artifacts that the Islamic State (IS) intended to smuggle out of Iraq.

An important step was taken in the efforts to recover Iraqi antiquities when the United States pledged last month to “protect the antiquities of Iraq and to recover what was looted,” John Russell, the US State Department’s senior adviser on Iraqi cultural heritage, said in a statement. This was confirmed by a source at the US Embassy in Baghdad who requested anonymity.

The source said that the embassy’s instructions on how to deal with cases of artifacts smuggling are very strict, and that the United States is very serious about ending this phenomenon.

However, the progress in recovering Iraqi antiquities that disappeared from museums and archaeological sites is offset by signs of continued smuggling in Mosul in the country’s north, especially since IS occupied the city on June 10, 2014, and in Dhi Qar (375 kilometers south of Baghdad), where on May 24, 2016, two antiquities smugglers were arrested while in possession of old manuscripts and artifacts.

On May 24, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said, “Iraq still needs international support to curb the smuggling of antiquities as an international crime.”

By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 32 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Monday.

A total of $134,033,525 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

By John Lee.

Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari has shown The Financial Times documents that appear to be part of a probe by Iraq's parliamentary finance committee, purporting to show how an individual close to the previous government used currency auctions to siphon $6.4 billion from the state.

A spokesperson for former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Mr Zebari’s allegations were “untrue and unrealistic”, adding he was trying to politicise the current parliament’s inquiries.

“We challenge Mr Zebari to prove there is any connection between us and that person. Making accusations without any evidence or proof shows this is nothing more than a miserable attempt to get out of the bottleneck he has fallen into.”

Zebari said that in 2012 and 2013 the Maliki government had billions of dollars in surpluses, but when he took office in 2015 there was “only $694 million in the government coffers”.

Iraq Business News provides summaries of the daily currency auctions, at which typically around $130 million are sold to buy Iraqi dinars at an official rate of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Financial Times)

By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 30 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Thursday.

A total of $136,428,356 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 29 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Wednesday.

A total of $130,433,092 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 33 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Monday.

A total of $135,228,418 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 32 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Monday.

A total of $127,474,300 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 31 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Wednesday.

A total of $133,884,851 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

By John Lee.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 30 banks and 15 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Monday.

A total of $125,837,738 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar.

(Source: Central Bank of Iraq)