CLARE: What is the relationship between the Central Bank’s actions? The dollar will soon stabilize at 145 thousand dinars, 4 MARCH

What is the relationship between the Central Bank’s actions? The dollar will soon stabilize at 145 thousand dinars

3/4/2024

- Baghdad

An expert in economic and academic affairs at Cihan University, Nawar Al-Saadi, confirmed today, Monday (March 4, 2024), that the decline in the dollar exchange rate is due to demand and supply on the market.

Al-Saadi said in an interview with "Baghdad Today", "The decrease has nothing to do with the procedures of the Central Bank,  but the positive thing in the matter is that there has become strong compliance on the platform and many traders have begun to comply with it."

Al-Saadi added, "The current decline is due to the lack of demand for the cash dollar, and the pressure on the parallel market is due to trade with Iran and Syria."

He pointed out, "It is expected that the dollar will stabilize in the coming period at 1445, and a thousand dinars will rise or fall, and it will witness a long period of stability, if there are no sanctions on banks and banks."

Al-Saadi stated, “The US Federal Reserve has indicated the presence of sanctions, but they may affect people and not banks. Therefore, the stability level of the dollar will be between the forties, and this is the real demand for the dollar, because in the last period there were fears that led to an increase in demand.”

Today, Monday, the exchange rates of the dollar against the dinar recorded a noticeable decline in the main stock exchanges in the capital, Baghdad, and the provinces.

The "Baghdad Today" correspondent said, "The price of the dollar on the main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, reached 149,500 dinars today, after it recorded 151,100 dinars per 100 dollars yesterday."

Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani confirmed on Sunday evening (March 3, 2024) that lowering the exchange rate means giving the dollar to “illegitimate” trade.

Al-Sudani stated during his participation in the opening of the activities of the Al-Rafidain Dialogue Forum in Baghdad, that "the financial situation in Iraq is at its best and that commercial transactions are collected through commercial institutions."

He added, "We give the student, the patient, the merchant, the contractor, and the investor the dollar at the official rate."

Al-Sudani pointed out that "the notes recorded on Iraqi banks from the US Treasury are from the time of previous governments."

He pointed out that "economic reform was one of the most important priorities of the government program."

Al-Sudani noted that "the salaries of employees and retirees constitute the largest cash block in the financial budget."

It is noteworthy that Iraq relies on the platform for selling currency directly to local banks and companies, which was previously known as the daily dollar auction, as one of the mechanisms for preserving the value of the Iraqi dinar and combating speculative operations in the parallel market. 

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, confirmed on February 6 that “some groups are trying to stay away from the platform for selling foreign currency in order to evade taxes or customs or the presence of illegal trade,” indicating “the possibility of meeting all requests for the dollar,” adding that “the bank has no problem.” In offering or selling the dollar.

He pointed out that "the bank is in a comfortable position to respond to requests to buy dollars. We have sufficient reserves, and soon we will launch a mechanism to ensure that only real travelers get the dollar."

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