🚨 MNT GOAT UPDATE: Change Is Hard — But Reform Is Here
The news cycle in Iraq is exploding with controversy:
ASYCUDA harming traders?
Customs revenues falling?
Salary deductions angering employees?
Oil companies forced to accept dinars?
Parallel market under attack?
At first glance, it looks chaotic.
But step back.
What if all of this is connected?
Let’s break it down.
📦 ASYCUDA: “Harming” 1 Million Traders?
An article claims:
“Statistics show that the ASYCUDA system is harming more than one million Iraqi traders, with losses amounting to billions.”
Economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi argues that trade transactions have dropped and customs revenues declined — including a reported 71 billion dinar decrease in January compared to prior months.
Customs duties were raised between:
5%
10%
15%
Up to 30%
Covering:
99 tariff chapters
Approximately 16,400 customs items
That’s a massive structural shift.
But here’s the key question:
Why did trade drop so sharply?
🔎 The Real Reason Trade “Declined”
ASYCUDA enforces:
Verified documentation
Digitized customs processing
Legitimate import valuation
International trade compliance
Under the old system:
Fake invoices were common.
Imports were overstated.
Dollars were siphoned via currency auctions.
Parallel market activity thrived.
When fake trade disappears, reported trade volume drops.
That does not mean the economy shrank.
It means fraud shrank.
Short-term shock?
Yes.
Long-term transparency?
Absolutely.
🌍 WTO & WCO Compliance — The Bigger Picture
New customs valuation mechanisms were adopted under:
Iraqi Customs Law No. 23 (amended)
Cabinet Resolution No. 569 (2025)
World Customs Organization (WCO) standards
World Trade Organization (WTO) rules
Did you catch that?
WCO.
WTO.
If Iraq wants full WTO accession and global trade integration, it must comply with international standards.
You cannot enter global trade systems with a corrupt customs regime.
Change is painful — but necessary.
💰 Widespread Anger Over Salary Deductions
Another headline:
“Widespread Anger in Iraq Over Large Sums Deducted from Salaries of Employees and Retirees”
Employees and retirees noticed automatic deductions after electronic salary deposits.
What’s happening?
The banking sector is being modernized.
Key changes include:
Mandatory electronic salary payments
Reduced cash withdrawals
Stabilized money supply
Automatic tax deductions
This mirrors Western systems.
When salaries go through formal banking channels:
Taxes become traceable
Government revenue improves
Informal cash leakage decreases
Again — shock at change.
But structurally, this strengthens fiscal governance.
🛢️ From Dollar to Dinar — The CBI’s Bold Move
Now here’s the BIG ONE.
The Central Bank of Iraq directed that oil company contractors be paid in dinars instead of U.S. dollars.
This affects:
Over 200 Iraqi companies
More than 50,000 workers
Contracts previously denominated in USD
Critics warn:
Financial losses
Operational disruptions
Possible layoffs
Reduced foreign investment
But what is the CBI really doing?
💵 Killing the Parallel Market — For Good?
The dollar has been the parallel market’s oxygen.
Every hole in the system allowed:
Dollar leakage
Black market exchange manipulation
Smuggling to sanctioned entities
Pressure on the dinar’s value
Now combine:
✔ ASYCUDA closing fake trade channels
✔ Customs reform aligned with WTO
✔ Salary digitization
✔ Reduction of physical cash
✔ Oil contractors paid in dinars
This is a coordinated assault on the parallel market.
Not random.
Strategic.
⚖️ The Official vs Parallel Rate Gap
Economists point out that companies suffer because:
Contracts are in dollars
Payments now in dinars
Parallel rate differs from official rate
But here’s the counterpoint:
What if the CBI does not intend for the parallel market to survive much longer?
If the black market disappears, the rate gap disappears.
And if the rate gap disappears, the financial burden argument collapses.
🤔 Is This Preparing for Reinstatement?
Let’s ask the logical question.
Why would the CBI:
Remove dinar from circulation?
Digitize salary flows?
Tighten customs?
Eliminate auction abuse?
Shift oil payments into dinars?
If the dinar were to remain permanently weak and dependent on dollars?
These reforms align with:
Monetary sovereignty
Liquidity control
Currency strengthening
International integration
If the dinar becomes fully international, contractor payment issues vanish.
Banks globally would accept IQD through formal channels.
The dependency on street dollar exchange would end.
Coincidence?
Or preparation?
🔥 Featured Snippet Summary
Why is ASYCUDA controversial?
Because it eliminates fake trade transactions, causing reported trade and customs revenues to drop short term.
Why are salaries being deducted automatically?
Electronic banking reforms now allow structured tax deductions and fiscal transparency.
Why is the CBI paying oil contractors in dinars?
To reduce dollar leakage and weaken the parallel market.
Is Iraq killing the parallel market?
Recent reforms strongly indicate that is the objective.
❓ Q&A Section
Q: Is ASYCUDA harming the economy?
Short term disruption exists, but long-term transparency and compliance strengthen the economy.
Q: Why are traders protesting?
Because stricter enforcement eliminates profit from parallel dollar operations.
Q: Are salary deductions permanent?
Likely yes — electronic banking modernization mirrors global tax systems.
Q: Does paying oil contractors in dinars signal RV?
Not necessarily — but it signals serious monetary restructuring.
📊 Connecting the Dots
Reform areas moving simultaneously:
Customs enforcement
Electronic banking
Currency supply tightening
Oil sector payment restructuring
Parallel market pressure
This is what structural transformation looks like.
It is noisy.
It is controversial.
It is painful.
But it builds monetary credibility.
🚦 Final Thought: To Kill or Not to Kill the Parallel Market?
That is no longer the question.
The CBI appears to have chosen.
The parallel market must shrink — or die.
Because without eliminating black market distortions:
The official rate cannot stabilize.
Monetary sovereignty cannot exist.
International credibility cannot grow.
Yes — change is hard.
But reform is visible.
📢 Stay Connected for Ongoing Updates
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MNT GOAT
Then yet another article on this subject matter titled “STATISTICS SHOW THAT THE ASYCUDA SYSTEM IS HARMING MORE THAN ONE MILLION IRAQI TRADERS, WITH LOSSES AMOUNTING TO BILLIONS”. Here we go again….. “Economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi stated on Saturday that the “ASYCUDA” system implemented by the Iraqi government has caused a decrease in trade transactions and a decline in customs revenues in the country, calling for dialogue sessions with chambers of commerce to reach appropriate solutions after the deterioration of the economic situation as a result of the application of the customs tariff.”
So, we see in Iraq as also in the US, there is outcry about customs and tariffs. Customs and tariffs have always been a longstanding traditional source of government revenue streams and effects businesses not the individual and moves the tax burden from the individual to businesses. Customs and Tariffs make trade fair. It equalizes trade if done properly. Yes, change is hard when you never had fair customs and tariffs before. So, there is going to be a natural shock when implemented. This shock will have to be absorbed over time.
I quote from the article “He added that this activity is currently suffering from the repercussions of the ASYCUDA system, and from the application of the customs tariff, which, according to official information, has led to a halving of Iraq’s trade transactions with the outside world, and to significant losses for traders and the government, whose customs revenues also decreased in January by 71 billion dinars compared to the months that preceded it.”
It is fair to say that through the ASYCUDA system, the Iraqi government raised customs duties by percentages ranging between 5% and 30%, distributed across brackets starting from 5%, 10% and 15%, up to the maximum limit of 30%.
These ratios cover the entire customs tariff register consisting of 99 chapters containing approximately 16,400 customs items, which are the items adopted globally in trade.
A few days ago, the General Authority of Customs in the Ministry of Finance issued a directive to adopt a reduction rate of 25% on the average import values recorded in the ASYCUDA system.
Then another article on this subject titled “OFFICIALLY… NEW MECHANISMS FOR CALCULATING THE CUSTOMS VALUE OF IMPORTED GOODS”. I quote from the article – “The General Authority of Customs announced today, Monday (February 9, 2026), the adoption of new mechanisms for calculating the customs value of imported goods, in implementation of the directives of the Prime Minister, and based on the provisions of the Customs Law No. (23) of 1984 amended, and paragraph (9) of Cabinet Resolution No. (569) of 2025, and in accordance with the approved international rules and standards.”
It is worth noting that the Valuation Department in the Authority is responsible for receiving requests to determine or amend the customs value recorded in the records, accompanied by official supporting documents, and they will be decided upon within a period not exceeding three working days, based on the applicable law and the international agreements and rules adopted by the World Customs Organization and the World Trade Organization. Opps….did it say WCO and WTO? Do you see how Iraq must conform to these international practices if they are to have full accession to the WTO thus access to global trade? But businesses in Iraq don’t see the bigger picture and only care about their profit sheet. They don’t understand the change that Iraq must go through. I will add that this change is going to be much more painful than it had to be unless they reinstate the Iraq dinar and other middle eastern currencies and level out the playing field. Who the hell wants a 1/6 of a penny currency?
____________________________________
What else is in the news?
I have to explain these next few articles, one is titled “WIDESPREAD ANGER IN IRAQ OVER LARGE SUMS DEDUCTED FROM THE SALARIES OF EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES”. In it we read that a number of employees and retirees were surprised, after receiving their monthly salaries, to find large amounts deducted, which sparked a state of discontent and concern in the employment and retirement circles.
As investors watching Iraq we all should realize that effort to bring the Irag banking sector into modern times. The new taxation structure was coming. When the CBI forced electronic banking not only did it move all this money into the banks mandating deposits into accounts as the means of payment, only allowing slow cash withdrawals via ATMs. This action was stabilizing the money supply. It was already making way for the reduction in the money supply to meet the future rate jump. Remember if you take money out of the system what remains is worth more.
But it also sets the stage to allow government automatic deduction of payment of certain taxes. Just like employers or government offices do it in the west today. No difference. Why such an outcry then? It is a change….There is another way to view what is happening to Iraq in this regard. Iraq is slowly moving to a private sector run economy, salaries paid by private companies away from the Saddam Hussien era of a socialistic system. Soon these government salaries of billions each month, will also be transferred to the private sector who will pay wages rather than the government. This is all coming and its not too far off. I only hope this current election cycle does not disturb the over all momentum in this direction. Again, change is hard!
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To Kill or not to Kill the parallel market, that is the question?
In a couple more articles in the news we learn of yet another strategy taking hold from the CBI to combat the parallel market. Please take a look at the articles titled
“FROM DOLLAR TO DINAR… EXCHANGE RATE POLICY CONFUSES OIL COMPANIES AND THREATENS THEIR EMPLOYEES!” and
“AL-MARSOUMI WARNS: CENTRAL BANK DECISIONS THREATEN MORE THAN 50,000 WORKERS WITH LOSSES AND MASS LAYOFFS”.
Yes, change is hard!
In this news we learn that The Central Bank of Iraq’s decision to convert payments to contractors working with oil companies from US dollars to Iraqi dinars. This has sparked widespread controversy in economic circles. This comes amid warnings of potential financial and operational repercussions for subcontractors, the labor market, and the stability of the oil sector. Experts believe that continuing with this mechanism could impose additional financial burdens on companies that rely on dollars for their transactions, impacting their operational capacity and business continuity.
When I learned of this news I said WOW! WOW! and WOW!. The CBI finally did it!
Do you know how amazing this news is and what it really means? I see that no other intel gurus out there even address the significance of this move by the CBI. The CBI is essentially creating the change over from the dollar to the dinar in payments now even to outside companies. These dollars have been a pain-in-the-ass for the CBI to control.
This change is going to be hard as sources are all set to receive dollars not dinars. But change is hard! Remember the national currency of Iraq is the dinar not dollars and the dollars have been the problem all along as these dollars get into the parallel market and shift the market to influence the price of the dinar. It is time to switch back to dinars.
How can the CBI ever get control of the official rate of the dinar unless they end these holes to which the dollar was passing through to the black market. So, along with the full implementation of the ASYCUDA system we see two major moves to sew up the parallel market. Yes, these money traders have been warned many times.
So, there will be an initial shock, as usual since this is a big move by the CBI.
Economic expert Nabil al-Marsoumi stated in a tweet that “more than 200 Iraqi companies contracted with oil licensing companies, employing over 50,000 Iraqi workers, are threatened with significant financial losses and layoffs due to the Central Bank’s directive to disburse their payments in dinars at the official rate—even though their contracts and expenses are denominated in dollars.”
Can this also mean that a reinstatement of the dinar is coming soon? Could this be the motive too for the CBI making this move now. Just saying….. if the dinar does go international this problem with the contractors will just go away. All these negative issues by paying in dinar as explained in the articles will simply vanish.
Am I missing something here?
For his part, energy expert Ahmed Sabah said that “converting company dues from dollars to dinars may lead to the gradual exclusion of some foreign companies, while focusing on companies that accept dinar transactions.” He explained that “many Western companies rely on external supply chains that require payment in dollars to secure equipment and services.”
Oh- then will this force banks around the world to accept dinar in order to convert them to dollars, through the proper banking channels and not illegal money launders that drive down the rate of the dinar?
He added that “this measure is not sustainable in the long term, especially given that the current government is a caretaker government, which reduces the chances of implementing decisions with long-term strategic impact.” He predicted that “major foreign companies will refrain from expanding or entering into new contracts if this mechanism continues,” considering that “the decision may be temporary and subject to change if negative effects emerge on the investment climate or the pace of work in the fields.”
Strengthening the Dinar or Market Losses? For his part, economist Dirgham Muhammad Ali believes that “attempts to curb the parallel dollar market have prompted the Central Bank to take measures to bolster confidence in the dinar,” but he noted that these measures “were not fair given the continued gap between the official and parallel exchange rates.”
He pointed out that the losses result from the large difference between the official and parallel exchange rates of the dollar against the dinar, noting that companies’ contracts and operating expenses are done in dollars, which exacerbates the financial burdens and threatens the continuity of their work. But what these comments in the article do not consider is that the CBI does not expect the parallel market to exist in the near future and in fact this change to payment in dinar is part of the efforts to kill the black market.
The Central Bank of Iraq must first be able to control the parallel market if not kill it altogether. This is purely what these move are all about. It will only build confidence in the dinar. Yes, change is hard!
