CBI to Support Dinar Stability

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) released a statement explaining the goals and main duties of its Investment Department.

Objectives

The CBI said the Investment Department focuses on a few key goals:

• Reducing risks when investing Iraq’s foreign reserves, while still earning reasonable returns.
• Supporting exchange rate stability by making sure enough foreign currency is available to cover Iraq’s balance of payments and to provide funding channels for banks and financial institutions in the country.
• Managing risks tied to oil revenue, since Iraq’s crude oil sales are the country’s main source of foreign currency.
• Ensuring operations continue smoothly, even during crises or emergencies, with updated plans to keep everything running.

Functions

The statement also outlined what the Investment Department actually does:

• Manages and invests Iraq’s foreign reserves, focusing on liquid foreign assets, and carries out investment transactions based on Central Bank Law No. 56 of 2004.
• Prepares regular reports—daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly—on balances held with central banks and financial institutions.
• Maximizes returns from Iraq’s crude oil export credits, which serve as the country’s main sovereign income.
• Strengthens the balances of Iraqi banks abroad and handles transfers for the Ministry of Finance.
• Executes all investment operations and foreign reserve transactions.
• Develops annual and long-term strategic plans for managing foreign reserves.
• Handles all financial transfers through SWIFT, using the global system’s standard procedures and language.
• Updates the SWIFT system regularly and communicates with Iraqi banks to ensure they follow the required monitoring and compliance steps.