Despite the rise in the dollar, Saleh: The parallel market today is not important
Despite the rise in the dollar, Saleh: The parallel market today is not important
2024/07/04
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed the stability of the dollar exchange rate against the dinar, despite its significant rise today, reaching 1,500 dinars.
Saleh told Al Furat News Agency, “The fixed exchange rate system in Iraq is based on the highest international reserves in the history of Iraq and its monetary policy, as foreign currency covers more than 100% of the total currency currently issued.” He added,
“In light of the strength of the official central exchange market, the exchange rate of the dollar to the dinar in the parallel market today in our country does not constitute any relative importance in influencing the stability of the general price level, which has become stable in its components and trends due to the influence of the official exchange rate factor currently dominating the financing of foreign trade (imports), amounting to 1320 dinars per dollar.”
He pointed out that “it is a stable trend for the exchange rate and the stable external value of the dinar revolves around it, which is embodied by the state of stability in the relative prices of goods and services to a large extent, as annual inflation in our country does not exceed 3%.”
Saleh continued, “Based on the above, and in light of the strength of the foreign reserves supporting the Iraqi dinar, the value of which as liquid foreign assets exceeds $100 billion, the official exchange market, as a general trend, will remain dominant in containing any colored noise or ambiguous information that affects the parallel exchange market in short periods due to urgent international or regional political events here and there or in adapting some instructions regulating the monetary market. Stressing that after the decline of the dollarization phenomenon in internal transactions, especially in contracts, obligations and payments within the country since last year and its legal prohibition.”
He stressed that “the parallel exchange market has become such that its general effects today only form a narrow economic scope of prohibited transactions practiced by informal markets and at a rate of 10% of the total supply and demand transactions for the currency.”
He stressed that “the stability of the exchange rate of the dinar to the dollar that the country is witnessing even in the secondary markets above is a real and solid stability, and is derived from the strength of the impact of the price and quantity factors of the monetary and financial policies and their integration in imposing overall price stability in the country and containing inflationary expectations that were caused by the parallel exchange market forces during the past years.”
He noted that “the irregular secondary market, due to the freedom of external transfer, is affected by the official exchange market rate, whose operations are constantly expanding in favor of dealing with the fixed official exchange rate.”
alforatnews.iq
