Iraqi companies participating in licensing rounds protest against “unfair procedures” by TBI
Iraqi companies participating in licensing rounds protest against “unfair procedures” by TBI
2025-12-09 02:28
Shafaq News – Basra
On Tuesday, a group of local companies operating within the oil licensing rounds organized a protest in front of the Iraqi Commercial Bank (TBI), protesting what they described as “unfair procedures” imposed by the bank’s management regarding the non-disbursement of their dues in dollars.
Jaber Ahmed, the director of one of the local companies, told Shafaq News Agency: “We are Iraqi companies contracted with foreign licensing round companies, and our funds arrive in dollars, but the bank forces us to withdraw them in dinars, saying that this is according to the instructions of the Central Bank. This causes us great losses because of the difference in the dollar exchange rate between the bank and the market.”
He added that “the losses of companies have become very tiring, as every $100 received in dinars causes a loss of up to 13,000 dinars compared to the real price in the market, which has led to severe disruption in the work of local companies dealing with foreign companies.”
He pointed out that “their companies employ hundreds of Iraqi workers and rely directly on financial obligations in dollars,” adding that “this banking policy has greatly hampered our activity. Previously, we used to take on more than ten work contracts, but today we do not even reach two contracts due to the accumulated losses from the currency difference.”
The protesters demanded that the Commercial Bank and the Central Bank “find a mechanism that guarantees that contracting companies receive their dues in dollars or at a price that matches the market price, in order to maintain the continuity of the private sector’s activity and stop the bleeding of losses that threatens these companies with closure.”
shafaq.com
