Through 5 Factors, Iraq Aims To Bring The Dollar Exchange Rate To “Conformity”
Energy and Business breaking 2025-07-22 Shafaq News – Baghdad Financial and economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, revealed on Tuesday five factors that could help narrow the gap between the official dollar exchange rate and its parallel market price, potentially leading to “convergence” between the two rates.
The official exchange rate of the dollar, approved by the Central Bank of Iraq, is 132,000 dinars per $100. Meanwhile, the parallel market exchange rate has approached 139,000 dinars over the past two days in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, representing a gap the government is seeking to bridge.
Mazhar Mohammed Saleh told Shafaq News Agency, “The decline in the value of the dollar on the parallel market, in favor of the Iraqi dinar, and its approach to the official rate, is due to several reasons and factors, the first of which is the ban on dealing in dollars domestically, especially in the real estate sector, which constituted a major deterrent to the phenomenon of dollarization.” He added,
“The second factor is the shift to a policy of foreign exchange bolstering through international correspondent banks, which handled foreign transfers after the Central Bank‘s window ended at the beginning of this year, reducing the risk of resorting to high-cost informal financing.” Saleh continued,
“The entry of small importers into the formal financing system and their reliance on a fixed exchange rate for external transfers, which constitutes approximately 60% of total foreign trade, is the third factor in narrowing the gap.”
He pointed out that “the fourth factor is the expanding culture of using electronic payment cards in foreign currency among travelers, which has eased the pressure on demand for cash dollars, in addition to facilitating travelers’ access to their dollar share through airports, subject to clear controls.”
The fifth factor, according to Saleh, is “the price defense policy through the expansion of cooperatives for consumer goods and building materials, financed by imports calculated at the official exchange rate of 1,320 dinars per dollar, reflecting the integration of monetary, fiscal, and trade policies within the government program.”
The financial advisor concluded his statement by saying, “The fact that the difference between the official and parallel rates is approaching less than 4% indicates that we have entered the convergence phase, as this difference represents only the cost of transactions.” https://shafaq.com/ar/اقتصـاد/عبر-5-عوامل-العراق-يستهدف-الوصول-بسعر-الدولار-لى-مرحلة-التطابق
Revealing The Cause Of The Economic Recession In Iraq And The Dollar’s Connection To It
Time: 2025/07/23 20:29:01 Reading: 930 Times
{Economic: Al-Furat News} Economic researcher Ahmed Abd Rabbo revealed that the decline in the dollar exchange rate in local markets, although an indicator of economic and Iraqi dinar recovery, comes amid an economic recession primarily due to the failure to approve the budget and the decline in oil prices. Abd Rabbo warned, in a statement to {Al-Furat News}, that:
“The current recession is mainly caused by the failure to approve the budget and the decline in oil prices, which could significantly increase the fiscal deficit,” warning that “the fiscal deficit could rise to 85 trillion Iraqi dinars, according to current indicators.”
Abdul Rabbo pointed out that “there are significant efforts by monetary policy that are not limited to the dollar exchange rate alone, but also include supporting borrowing and stimulating the market,
including the “Baghdad Pulse” initiative and others, all of which aim to support the civilized image of the capital and the economy.”
He explained that “those who control the price of oil are external factors subject to wars and demand, and therefore price fluctuations negatively impact Iraq.”
The economic researcher stressed that “maximizing non-oil revenues is something that must be achieved,” expressing his “regret for the lack of a genuine will to support the country’s agricultural and industrial sectors.”
https://alforatnews.iq/news/كشف-سبب-الركود-الاقتصادي-في-العراق-وصلة-الدولار-به
