This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In Iraqi Kurdistan, locals often trust the local exchange counter more than big banks. But a recent rash of fraud on the informal money market has seen savings lost and […]
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 […]
The great Iraqi dinar scam, in which con artists peddle the false hope of a massive revaluation of the Iraqi dinar, seems to be finally dying out. That makes the time right for one of the architects of the scheme to make some more money, this time writing a book about her road to riches. […]
By Guest Blogger. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. For several years, con artists have been peddling the Iraqi Dinar scam – the myth of a massive revaluation of the Iraqi dinar, but that may be about to change. Using a range […]
By John Lee. An American man has pleaded guilty to operating an illegal business selling Iraqi dinar. ArgusLeader reports that 60-year-old David Olmsted, also known as Dale Cooper Jr., received daily Federal Express packages with shrink-wrapped piles of dinar bills that had been smuggled out of Iraq and into Jordan. The man, from South Dakota, was […]
By John Lee. The First Deputy Chairman of the parliament has reportedly demanded that the Central Bank of Iraq address the fluctuating exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar, and disclose the reasons. Shafaaq News says that Qusay al-Suhai chaired a meeting of the Finance Committee, in the presence of central bank […]
By Omar al-Shaher, for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Privately held Iraqi banks have almost entirely relinquished their traditional functions — such as giving out loans, lending credit and issuing letters of credit — due to default risks. Instead, they are […]
Perhaps the biggest story of recent days was the shock dismissal of the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Sinan al-Shabibi, and the issuing of arrest warrants for him and many of his staff. The nature of the allegations against Mr Shabibi are not entirely clear, but appear to center around manipulation of […]
By John Lee. Investigators in Iraq have opened an inquiry into alleged manipulation of the exchange rate between the Iraqi dinar (IQD) and the US dollar, and arrest warrants have reportedly been issued for several officials including the head of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI). Hassan Karim Aati, spokesman for the Commission on Integrity, […]
Iraq has decided to hold off on a plan to knock three zeros off the nominal value of bank notes of its currency because it does not believe the economic climate is suitable, reports Reuters. The central bank said last August that it planned to redenominate the Iraqi dinar to simplify financial transactions in an […]
The finance committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives warned on Wednesday about the deterioration of the Iraqi economy due to the low exchange rate of the dinar to the US dollar, assuring that proposals are underway to get the country back on its feet, reports AKnews. According to AKnews, the Iraqi dinar hit its […]
The Financial Times reports that Iraq’s central bank has tightened its clampdown on its sales of dollars, amid fears that buyers are using them to launder money and skirt international sanctions on neighbouring Iran and Syria. The bank unveiled new rules on Monday to force customers to prove their identities by supplying tax records and […]
