Report: More than 90 trillion dinars in cash are in circulation outside the banking system in Iraq, 10 DEC

 Report: More than 90 trillion dinars in cash are in circulation outside the banking system in Iraq

The Future Iraq Foundation for Economic Studies and Consultations counted, on Sunday, the local currency circulating outside the banking system in the country during the year 2023, and said that it exceeded 90 trillion dinars.

The institution stated in a report published today that the value of the issued cash currency increased from 78 trillion dinars at the beginning of the year 2022 to reach more than 102 trillion dinars at the end of the year 2023, with a growth rate in the issued cash currency amounting to 9.24% during 2023 and a growth rate in 2022 amounting to 20%, an increase. For the year 2019, by 58 trillion Iraqi dinars, according to data from the Central Bank of Iraq.

The report added that the cash currency outside the banking system amounted to approximately 93 trillion Iraqi dinars, an increase of 30% compared to 2022, and it is the highest volume of funds existing outside the banking system throughout the history of the Iraqi banking system.

According to data from the Ministry of Planning, the population of Iraq in 2023 reached approximately 43 million people, representing only 60% of them over the age of 15 years. Therefore, the number of Iraqis’ population who are more than 15 years old exceeds 26 million people, and based on the Ministry’s figures Work, which indicates that the size of social welfare beneficiaries is approximately 14 million people, while the number of adult Iraqi citizens who are not covered by social welfare is approximately 12 million people.

The report indicated that, based on data from the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Planning, and the Central Bank of Iraq, it can be concluded that the average value of each Iraqi’s hoarding of money in the Iraqi currency “exclusively” is approximately 7.2 million Iraqi dinars per citizen, higher than in 2019, which was approximately 4 million. Iraqi Dinar.

According to the Foundation, considering that each home contains at least two adults (a man and a woman) who are not covered by social care, the rate of each Iraqi home hoarding money exclusively in the Iraqi currency amounts to 15 million Iraqi dinars, which is a higher percentage than in 2019, which was approximately 8.12 million dinars. Iraqi.

The report noted that, based on these official figures issued by official bodies, every adult Iraqi citizen over the age of 15 (man and woman) who is not a beneficiary of social welfare was able to increase his money stored in Iraqi dinars by 1.2 million Iraqi dinars during the years 2022 and 2023 despite From the decline in the value of the dinar compared to the dollar in the local market, in addition to the rise in commodity prices and the rise in inflation rates by 4%, according to data from the Ministry of Planning.

Hoarded money is defined as the value of money that a person keeps away from the banking system, and does not invest it or buy his own assets, but rather keeps it away from financial institutions and exclusively in the Iraqi currency and not in other currencies.

The institution concluded in its report that some believe that these numbers may be illogical, and that Iraqis are suffering from a major shortage of funds and deteriorating social conditions. However, what is proven is that the Central Bank of Iraq has, in two years, exported more than 24 trillion Iraqi dinars, warning that more Of the 22 trillion Iraqi dinars that were hoarded by adult citizens and non-beneficiaries of social welfare. link