EXPECTATIONS THAT THE IRAQI DINAR WILL CONTINUE TO RECOVER AGAINST THE DOLLAR DURING THE NEW YEAR 2024
he Association of Iraqi Private Banks raised its optimism about the continued recovery of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar in the parallel market during the new year 2024, stressing that the recent actions of the Central Bank of Iraq contributed to this rise.
During the past three weeks, the Iraqi dinar witnessed a clear and gradual rise against the dollar, as the exchange rate in the parallel market reached an average of 1,500 dinars to the dollar, after recording a significant decline that reached 1,700 dinars to the dollar in the last quarter of 2023, while the monetary authorities seek Which set an official price for the dinar at 1,320 per dollar, to pursue those it describes as speculators and smugglers of hard currency.
The Association, which is one of the most prominent financial analysis institutions in the country, expected the exchange rate to continue to decline in the parallel market with the continued implementation of the central bank’s agreements with the Federal Bank and several countries to finance foreign trade.
Association advisor Samir Al-Nusairi said in a statement on Sunday evening, “The goals and tasks of the Central Bank focus on financial and banking reform, especially with regard to the transition from the cash economy to the digital economy through the development and deployment of electronic payment devices.”
He praised “the Central Bank’s negotiating efforts that lasted approximately 8 months with the US Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank, and international banks, and resulted in agreements that allowed the entry of new currencies to deal with foreign transfers, including the Chinese yuan, the UAE dirham, the Indian rupee, the euro, and the Turkish lira.”
He stressed that “these agreements were implemented successfully, which was reflected in the exchange rate and led to its decline.”
The clear improvement in the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar comes after statements by the US ambassador to Baghdad, Alina Romanowski, at the end of last month, in which she affirmed her country’s commitment to providing “US dollar services to Iraq,” in reference to financing the Central Bank of Iraq with its needs of the American currency.
Romanowski confirmed that “many Iraqi banks have now formed relationships with international banks for the first time, which is a positive step in making progress in reforming the banking sector,” adding: “We will continue to provide US dollar services to Iraq in the interest of economic stability.”
For his part, financial expert Riyad Allawi said, “The recovery of the dinar comes due to the decline in demand for the dollar in the parallel market by merchants and importers in general.”
Allawi added to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “Iraq’s signing agreements with Turkey, Iran, and China to import in the local currency, in addition to adopting the euro, is a major reason for this recovery,” expecting that “the recovery will continue in the first half of this year 2024, bringing the exchange rate to the market.” The equivalent is 1,400 dinars to one dollar.
The financial expert considered that “the Central Bank of Iraq is moving towards a package of new measures that will contribute to retailers in the car and furniture sectors, for example, abandoning the culture of dealing in dollars, and the continued arrest of hard currency speculation networks is very important.”
He stressed that “the decline in the value of the Syrian and Lebanese currencies in the recent period against the dollar is due to the decline in the arrival of the dollar from the Iraqi market to these two countries as a result of the tightening of transfer and smuggling procedures as well.”
No comments:
Post a Comment