By John Lee. The Financial Adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Dr. Mudhhir Mohammed Saleh, has firmly denied social media rumours claiming the destruction of half of Iraq's currency supply - approximately 62 trillion dinars [$47 billion] - as "economically absurd and completely unfounded". In remarks to the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA), Saleh clarified […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has held a three-day training workshop in Erbil on the "Core Standards for Detecting Counterfeit Currency," in collaboration with its branch office in the Kurdistan Region. Organised by the CBI's Banking Studies Center, the workshop runs from 1st to 3rd July 2025 and includes participation from […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Second Karkh Investigative Court has recovered 3 billion Iraqi dinars [$2.3 million] in connection with a financial fraud case involving two companies accused of manipulating foreign currency exchange rates through illegal overseas transfers. The companies had allegedly exploited discrepancies in the dollar exchange rate using fraudulent methods to generate profits, in […]
By John Lee. Iraqi Finance Minister, Mrs Taif Sami Mohammed, along with the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Dr Ali Al-Alaq, participated in the Annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), held in Washington from 20-23 April 2025. The discussions focused on global economic challenges, financial […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has issued a warning to the public regarding the circulation of foreign banknotes - including authentic, withdrawn, and counterfeit currency - used by fraudsters to deceive citizens. According to the CBI, criminals lure individuals into exchanging these notes for Iraqi dinars at inflated rates under the […]
By John Lee. The London School of Economics (LSE)'s Middle East Centre has hosted a talk by Ahmed Tabaqchali, exploring the economic and financial interactions of the Iraqi economy with the outside world, particularly the use of the dollar in relation to Iran and the US. While the US' Iraq policy is still fluid, there […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) announced an expansion of foreign currency transfer options for local banks, adding the Jordanian Dinar and Saudi Riyal to the list. Iraqi banks are now also permitted to fund trade with Turkey in Euros, previously restricted to transactions with EU countries. These currencies join the existing […]
By John Lee. As part of financial and economic reforms, the Iraqi Cabinet has endorsed recommendations to conduct all state contracts within Iraq in Iraqi dinars. There will be exceptions for ongoing external grants, loans, and agreements, and new contracts involving foreign grants, loans, and agreements may adhere to agreed-upon foreign currency terms, as specified […]
By John Lee. The Iranian parliament, the Majlis, has approved a government bill to redenominate its currency, dropping four zeros. According to Tehran Times, the proposal came from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), and will result in a new currency, the "toman", which will equal 10,000 rials. Reuters reports that the bill must now […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Commission of Integrity has revealed that it has concluded cases resulting in fines of more than 245 billion dinars ($206 million) on private banks, due to violations relating to customs licences and foreign currency auction instructions for 2012. The CoI mentioned that one of these corruption cases related to a private […]
Iranian ambassador to Baghdad said Iran and Iraq are weighing plans to eliminate US dollar in trade transactions and also lift visa requirements for citizens of the two countries. Speaking at a TV program on Saturday night, Iraj Masjedi said Tehran and Baghdad are considering plans to use Iraqi dinar for trade transactions or develop […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 18 banks took part in its currency auction on Thursday. A total of $193,850,000 was sold at a price of 1166 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar. (Source: Central Bank of Iraq)
