Economist Warns: The Dollar Will Explode If Iraq Enters The War With Israel And Iran – Urgent
Economy Yesterday, | 1157 economic hell Baghdad Today – Baghdad As regional tensions between Israel and Iran escalate, Iraq stands at a dangerous juncture,
the repercussions of which could extend beyond politics and security to the heart of the fragile economy, burdening ordinary citizens who still yearn for a lost stability.
Whenever the drums of war beat in the region, Iraqi markets are the first to tremble, as fear turns into a frenzied race for the dollar, and the dinar becomes a burden rather than a security.
In a scene that is repeated with every crisis, anxiety levels rise among traders and citizens, and the dollar begins to rise, as if reflecting the pulse of fear in the streets.
As news of the potential for the conflict to expand continues, economists warn of an impending catastrophe,
warning that any Iraqi involvement in the conflict will
mercilessly ignite the foreign exchange market and
push the prices of basic commodities to levels beyond the reach of ordinary citizens.
From this standpoint, the warning issued by economic expert Othman Karim,
on Sunday (June 15, 2025),
reflects a worrying reality,
speaking clearly about the scenarios that could destabilize the dinar and threaten food security,
if Iraq becomes embroiled in a war that is not its own, but one that will cost it dearly. Karim told Baghdad Today,
“The rise in the dollar exchange rate immediately after the Israeli strikes is a normal occurrence in the market,
due to the fears of traders and those who own dinars and who resorted to quickly converting their currency into dollars.” He added,
“The exchange rate will remain below 150,000 dinars for the time being,
but if Iraq enters a state of war, prices ill reach more than 160,000 dinars, and may rise further, significantly impacting food prices, especially if the seaports on which Iraq relies are completely closed.”
The Middle East is witnessing an unprecedented escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran,
amid an exchange of threats and military strikes that threaten to expand the conflict to neighboring countries.
Iraq, due to its geographical location and its intertwined relationships with the parties to the conflict, faces the possibility of slipping into a war, either directly or indirectly, raising widespread popular and economic concerns.
Iraq is a country that relies heavily on imports, particularly food, which arrive via seaports.
This makes it vulnerable to fluctuations in regional and international markets.
The Iraqi economy also suffers from structural fragility,
making it highly susceptible to political or security unrest.
This was evident in previous crises that led to sharp fluctuations in the dinar’s exchange rate against the dollar, directly impacting the prices of goods and services.
With recurring geopolitical tensions, Iraqi markets are in a state of constant suspense,
with the dollar exchange rate being more influenced by sentiment and anxiety than economic data.
This makes any military escalation in the region a direct cause of significant fluctuations that could impact citizens’ daily lives. https://baghdadtoday.news/276440-.html
A “Time Bomb”… The Iraqi Economy Is At Risk Due To Jordanian Banks.
Economy 2025-06-10 | 4,697 views Alsumaria News – Economic Financial and banking expert Mustafa Hantoush described Jordanian banks’ control over remittances as a “time bomb” on Tuesday.
Hantoush told Sumaria News , “The issue of Jordanian and Gulf banks controlling the current currency auction is like a time bomb,” noting that
“the dollar’s valuation has been directed to 50 private Iraqi banks in order to resolve it.” He added,
“These foreign banks have joint accounts, controlling more than $50 billion annually, which is a significant amount,”
warning of the danger of “these banks monopolizing remittances, even though they are affiliated with foreign investment.”
He stressed the “need to take action, either dismantling the banks, which is unacceptable, or implementing real instructions that are consistent with international models, not a model tailored to Iraq and never implemented at all.”
https://www.alsumaria.tv/news/economy/529225/قنبلة-موقوتة-الاقتصاد-العراقي-في-خطر-بسبب-مصارف-اردنية
Prime Minister’s Advisor: Iraq Is Qualified To Become A Regional Financial Center With Four Strategic Powers.
Yesterday, 13:18 Baghdad – INA – Nassar Al-Hajj The Prime Minister’s financial advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, identified four factors that make Iraq a regional financial center on Sunday, stressing that Iraq possesses foreign reserves exceeding $100 billion.
“There are four elements of strength that make Iraq a regional financial center, the
first of which is that it is the second largest producer of crude oil in the Middle East, and
it has the fourth largest oil reserves in the world, through which it competes to take precedence in the global energy market, through more production and achieving financial flows
that make it a financial and economic pillar in the economic geography of the Middle East, by achieving large financial surpluses that can be directed to investment in financial infrastructure,” Saleh told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
He stated that “Iraq has foreign reserves exceeding $100 billion, which provides it with a
significant financial safety margin, confidence in monetary stability, and high financial investment attractiveness.”
He added, “The second factor is Iraq‘s unique geoeconomic location, which is a vital corridor linking the world’s north to its south.
This represents an open economic space between global markets and their financial and commercial attractions, with links that provide important climates for the concentration of regional financial markets,
which will revolve around the strategy of the ‘development project’ linking Europe and the Gulf.” He continued:
“The third factor is the demographic or human factor, and its foundation is the population boom, as the percentage of the population under the age of thirty is close, which makes Iraq one of the young nations.
The high percentage of youth (more than 60% under the age of thirty)
will provide a flexible human base that can be trained in
financial technology,
banking innovation,
digital technology, and
artificial intelligence.”
He noted that “the government is undertaking the establishment of an important college for artificial intelligence sciences as inputs to the financial labor market and its foundations.” He added,
“The fourth factor is modernizing and restructuring governance in government-owned banks,
given that they currently control 80% or more of banking activity.”
He emphasized that “the reform campaign being led by the government today for the aforementioned banks aims to transform Iraq into a global financial center after ridding it of the risks of bureaucracy and inefficiency inherited over many decades.”
He pointed out “the importance of electronic payments and the gradual expansion of the use of bank cards, point-of-sale (POS), collection systems, and smart wallets, which have helped achieve significant leaps in digital financial inclusion.
This is coupled with the presence of the Iraq Stock Exchange and the Securities Commission,
which operate in a robust, integrated, and promising manner as an infrastructure to establish Iraq as a regional hub for consolidating the country’s institutional financial stability.”
He explained that “the legal, executive, and regulatory infrastructure requirements are the key lever for enabling this transformation. These include, for example,
linking banks to effective electronic payment platforms and
supporting the development of the current National Data Center to serve as the sovereign digital financial infrastructure that supports Iraq‘s efforts to transform into a regional financial center.”
He pointed out that “Iraq‘s transformation into a regional financial center will be achieved through the
collection and integration of financial, banking, and economic data,
supporting smart monetary and financial policies,
enabling financial technology and smart data analysis,
enhancing transparency and governance of financial institutions,
stimulating the non-banking finance sector, such as microfinance companies,
reforming the insurance sector, and
licensing financial technology (Fintech) companies.” He pointed out that
“the current political, legal, and institutional stability that our country enjoys today,
in a prosperous and solid manner,
is the true basis for financial strength.
There is no financial center without a stable and secure political and legal environment.”
Saleh emphasized the importance of building regional and international partnerships, such as
studying the importance of joining regional payment systems and financial structures of international groups such as the G20 or BRICS, or partnerships with strong financial centers in Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, and others. https://ina.iq/ar/economie/236406-.html
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