Parliamentary Finance: US sanctions will exacerbate the dollar crisis.. and there is no government plan
Parliamentary Finance: US sanctions will exacerbate the dollar crisis.. and there is no government plan
2025-02-19 04:33
Shafaq News/ Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mustafa Al-Karawi, warned on Wednesday that any sanctions imposed by the US Treasury on Iraqi banks will lead to an increase in demand for the dollar in the local market, criticizing the absence of a clear government plan for monetary policy in the country.
Al-Karawi told Shafaq News Agency, “Any US sanctions on Iraqi banks will lead to a reduction in the number of banks participating in the foreign currency buying and selling window, which will exacerbate the demand for the dollar and affect the stability of the market.”
He added, “The Central Bank of Iraq needs to put in place an effective and real system to control the market, otherwise the dollar crisis and exchange rate fluctuations will continue indefinitely.”
Al-Karawi said, “The government has not yet succeeded in drawing up a clear monetary policy, nor has it been able to control the dollar exchange rate in the local market.”
A few days ago, information spread about the US Treasury imposing sanctions on 5 Iraqi banks, and preventing the use of electronic cards outside Iraq, before the Central Bank of Iraq issued a statement about its negotiations with Washington, and denied the issuance of sanctions on the banks.
Over the past year, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on several banks, and the Central Bank complied, punishing them by preventing them from participating in the currency auction, in order to limit the smuggling of dollars abroad.
There is still a large price difference between the official price of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar and its price in the market, where it is officially sold at 132 thousand dinars for every hundred dollars, while its price in the local market is close to 150 thousand dinars for every hundred dollars.
shafaq.com
