Washington's Sanctions Restrict Baghdad's Economy.. Banks Are In A "Dilemma" And The Iraqi Central Bank Is A "Spectator", 8 FEB

Washington's Sanctions Restrict Baghdad's Economy.. Banks Are In A "Dilemma" And The Iraqi Central Bank Is A "Spectator"

Posted On 02-08-2024 By Sotaliraq  February 7   The banking sector in Iraq is experiencing unenviable days, as a result of the succession of US sanctions on banks one after another, which portends an economic “disaster” that the government will face sooner or later, with exchange rates fluctuating above the barrier of 150,000 for every 100 dollars.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 14 banks, according to what was revealed by the Wall Street Journal, and these sanctions come months after similar sanctions were imposed on 4 other Iraqi banks after they were accused of various pretexts and pretexts, including money laundering.

The US sanctions are raising a new wave of concern among Iraqis, especially since all government measures during the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani did not succeed in bringing the parallel exchange rate closer to the official rate.

Earlier today, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury on Iraqi banks.

Member of the House of Representatives, Zainab Al-Moussawi, revealed the reason for the US Treasury Department placing economic sanctions on some Iraqi banks, and while she described Washington’s arguments as “false,” she stressed the necessity of getting rid of Iraq’s dependence on the dollar.

Al-Moussawi said, in an interview, that “the American administration always resorts to punishing Iraq by placing solid institutions under the control of the Iraqi state, as it did recently by placing several banks on the US Treasury Department’s sanctions list under a false pretext with no concrete evidence.”

She adds, “Washington is working to punish Iraqi banks in order to reduce the value of the Iraqi dinar and raise the value of the US dollar in a move to humiliate Iraq and request assistance from Washington in supplying the country with foreign currency.”

The member of the House of Representatives stresses “the necessity of changing Iraq’s dependence on the dollar by selling crude oil, the only source of the Iraqi state, and selling it in other foreign currencies such as the Chinese yuan, the Russian ruble, and other currencies that have strength and authority in global markets, and leaving American hegemony over the Iraqi economy.”

Al-Mousawi explains, “The US Treasury sanctions will obstruct the flow of remittances, afflict the Iraqi banking sector with chaos, and also affect the internal exchange rate greatly, and this is what Washington is currently following   LINK