Parliament Holds The Central Bank Responsible For Manipulating The Price Of The Dollar
Policy 05/09/2023 the number of readings: 276 Baghdad-Iraq today: The Parliamentary Finance Committee attributed the continued rise in the dollar exchange rate to the complex procedures included in the electronic window, while indicating the existence of collusion by some central bank employees by passing large sums of money to a group of merchants.
Committee member Mueen Al-Kazemi said in a press interview, “The Parliamentary Finance diagnosed, during its meeting with the bank's governor, the existence of errors in the procedures of the electronic window to buy the dollar, and the matter caused the reluctance of a significant proportion of merchants to register and request foreign currency, which led to a scarcity of supply.”
In the market and the rise in the exchange rate,” noting that “the procedures adopted by the bank are complex and have caused the reluctance of many merchants and to avoid registering in the electronic dollar purchase window.”
Al-Kazemi added, "Some exchange rate speculators are working to publish unreal prices under the stock exchange title and broadcast them within (WhatsApp) groups and other sites, and this led to price conflicts and created a greater interest than the demand for buying or selling.”
And he explained, “The American sanctions also prevent the issuance of remittances to some merchants wishing to import from neighboring countries such as Iran, Lebanon and Syria, and this measure prompted merchants to use illegal methods in order to transfer their money to facilitate the task” of importing goods and merchandise,” pointing out that “the complicity of some employees in the central bank with a group of merchants, especially in the currency auction, it caused the passage of sums of money that are not parallel to the volume of goods that are imported.
And Al-Kazemi continued, “The Finance Committee has put in place some procedures and agreed with the bank’s governor regarding them, as they are likely to contribute to reducing the price, including granting an amount of 3 thousand dollars to citizens who wish to travel.”
Directly away from the exploitation of tourism companies and offices for their requests and benefits through their passports, with the committee's monitoring of the bank regarding the implementation of all observations that were identified during the hosting of the bank's governor.”
Al-Kazemi stated, "The Iraqi government has entered a battle between its desire to implement a sober banking system, and ending the power of speculators and currency smugglers." LINK