A Representative Answers “Baghdad Today”: Why Did Government Measures Fail Against The Green Currency?
Economy |Baghdad today – Baghdad Independent MP Hadi Al-Salami confirmed today, Sunday (November 5, 2023), the failure of government measures to confront the “dollar mafias,” while renewing the demand to change the governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq.
Al-Salami told “Baghdad Today” that “the dollar mafias that control the parallel market are still manipulating exchange rates despite all government measures, and this confirms the failure of those measures, as they are patchwork measures and do not contain any real reform measure.”
He added, "We are still demanding and working according to the constitutional powers granted to us in order to change the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, as he failed in the task of controlling the dollar exchange rate. Indeed, the dollar is constantly rising and the bank has lost control of that."
Today, Sunday (November 5, 2023), the dollar exchange rates witnessed a significant jump, exceeding 163 per hundred dollars in local markets in the capital, Baghdad.
The "Baghdad Today" correspondent said, "The selling price of the dollar in exchange offices in Baghdad today reached 164,250 dinars for every 100 dollars."
He added, "The purchase price reached 162,250 dinars for every 100 dollars."
On (November 2, 2023), a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Kujar, revealed that a group of mafias and influential people controlled the dollar exchange rate through a “WhatsApp group.”
Cougar indicated in a televised interview followed by “Baghdad Today” that “there is a (group) on WhatsApp run by a group of influential people or mafias who control the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel market,” calling on the security services from the intelligence and national security to intervene and follow up on the matter.”
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that “personalities working in the stock exchanges referred to this (group) and demanded that the matter be conveyed to the relevant authorities to take urgent measures.”
On (last October 8), the expert in banking affairs, Ahmed Al-Tamimi, criticized the Iraqi Banks Association for not taking any position on what some private banks are working on to acquire the dollar illegally .
Al-Tamimi told "Baghdad Today", "Some private banks are working to illegally seize the dollar. They take the share of the traveling citizen and do not give it to him. Also, some banks refuse to hand over to the citizens the remittances that reach them in dollars, and all of this violates the law."
The expert in banking affairs stated that “the Iraqi Banks Association bears a large part of the illegal behavior that is happening in some private banks, especially since it has not yet taken any role from those banks. Rather, it remains silent and tries to evade its role in following up on the work of those banks.” ".
Meanwhile, economic expert Sarhank Hussein earlier accused the Association of Private Banks of being behind the rise in dollar exchange rates in the parallel (black) markets .
Hussein told "Baghdad Today", "The process of buying the dollar with cards by merchants and giving it to private banks is behind the rise in the dollar exchange rate again." LINK