On Thursday, the Iraqi Political and Economic Center proposed changes to the dollar delivery mechanism for travelers at Iraqi airports and noted several issues with the current system.
The center’s director, Wissam Hadmal Al-Helu, stated in a recent statement that the process of delivering dollars to travelers has become increasingly complex in the past few months. As a result, many beneficiaries have yet to be able to receive the currency for the purposes permitted by the Central Bank.
“He said that the current mechanism being used for reserving dollars in Iraq is causing a lot of pressure and is depriving many people of the ability to enter and request for dollars. Some banks are also limiting the number of people who can purchase dollars and then closing the application based on complaints received by the Iraqi Central Bank.”
Al-Helu proposed a simple and secure mechanism that should be supervised by the Central Bank of Iraq and the competent authorities in Iraqi airports. The mechanism enables the traveler to request what they need from the $3,000 US dollars allocated to them. The traveler should bring an amount equivalent to the Iraqi dinar and deliver it immediately from inside the airport after stamping their passport upon departure. They should then present the stamp, ticket, and board to the bank outlets located at the airport, whose employees are available 24 hours a day.
He highlighted that this measure would make it easier for travelers to obtain dollars and ensure a fair distribution. This would help prevent most travelers from being forced to buy dollars from the black market at a significantly higher rate than the official price. Such pressure had been one of the factors responsible for the rise in the exchange rate in the past few months.
