The Dollar Continues To Fall Against The Dinar In Baghdad.
Economy | 10:40 - 03/07/2025 Mawazine News – Baghdad The US dollar exchange rate fell on Thursday morning in the markets of Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.
The dollar price fell on the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges to 141,100 Iraqi dinars for every $100, while yesterday, Wednesday, it recorded 141,350 dinars for every $100.
Selling prices fell in exchange shops in the local markets in Baghdad, where the selling price reached 142,000 Iraqi dinars for every $100, and the buying price reached 140,000 dinars for every $100. https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=263394
Bank Story: A mate called Bendigo bank here in AUS and asked if they were exchanging international currency, they grabbed the manager and said “not yet”. Then asked if he was referring to VND, and he said yes. They said they would be accepting that currency – they have the new rate - just waiting. This is exciting stuff.
MarkZ: That is awesome. This is the second bank story I have heard on this in the last 2 days.
The US Treasury is pursuing corruption funds... and the Baghdad government remains silent.
An Imminent Crisis in the Iraqi Financial Sector: Has the Phase of Comprehensive Sanctions Begun?
Iraq's financial system is facing new signs of turmoil after the disruption of salary payments through some electronic payment companies affiliated with government institutions. While the reasons for the disruption appear technical, informed sources confirm that the matter is linked to US investigations targeting Iraqi banks and companies suspected of involvement in money laundering operations abroad, to countries including Turkey, Iran, and the UAE.
The same sources explained that the US Treasury had granted a grace period to a number of private banks and electronic payment companies to rectify their status and comply with international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. However, many of these entities have not demonstrated sufficient seriousness in resolving their cases, opening the door to the inclusion of new names on US sanctions lists in the near future.
This situation threatens to directly disrupt the financial market's performance, especially if the sanctions affect active institutions relied upon to pay salaries and finance daily commercial activities. Experts expect liquidity within the market to be significantly affected, amid growing concerns about declining public confidence in local banks.
This is particularly true with the increased demand for dollars for external transfers or for storage in anticipation of any unexpected developments. This pressure could lead to a decline in the value of the Iraqi dinar and a rise in the dollar on the parallel market, which would impact the prices of goods and services in an already tense economic environment.
Meanwhile, regulatory authorities within Iraq , led by the Central Bank, are preparing to impose stricter oversight on the activities of banks and money transfer companies in an attempt to avoid further escalation. This is particularly true since some technical reports have revealed clear violations in the performance of some banking institutions, including massive financial transfers abroad without legal documentation, the issuance of credit cards to fictitious accounts, and suspicions of financing prohibited activities or smuggling hard currency.
Despite the bleak outlook, observers believe the crisis could mark a turning point in Iraq's financial reform process. It has become imperative to restructure the private banking sector and impose strict regulatory classifications, along with a comprehensive review of electronic payment companies to ensure their compliance with international standards, and to open the door to broader partnerships with globally licensed financial service providers.
In this context, the crisis may turn into an opportunity to reshape the financial market in Iraq, starting with cleansing the banking environment of unregulated entities and bolstering international institutions' confidence in the Iraqi transfer and oversight system. The shift toward a more transparent and governed environment is not a luxury, but rather a necessity imposed by both domestic realities and international pressures.
Iraq today stands at a critical crossroads: either integrate into the global financial system on its terms and ensure gradual stability in its banking sector, or continue sliding toward financial isolation, which will have direct repercussions for the lives of citizens and the country's economy as a whole. link
Well folks Banker is under the belief he and all his counter parts will be notified at some point tomorrow on the 4th that they will receive a heads up as to when the notifications and 800 numbers will be released so he can have all his centers manned and ready to begin appointment scheduling for next week.
Government advisor: The government has succeeded in managing fiscal policy
The Prime Minister's financial advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, explained on Friday the reasons for the delay in submitting the budget schedules, while stressing that the government has succeeded in managing the country's financial and economic policy.
Saleh said, "The financial compass reading, which required the submission of the 2025 budget tables for legal approval under Article 77/Second of the Budget Law, was truly delayed for two fundamental reasons. The first was to await the amendment to the three-year general budget law regarding the value of the region's oil contracts and the costs of transporting its oil, which were not approved until last February. The other reason relates to the fluctuations that global energy markets were exposed to and the effects of global oil prices on the general budget, which also required rereading some financial constants and variables, whether revenues, expenditures, deficit financing and its sources, more than once due to international geopolitical and economic problems and the major issues that occurred in the global economy at a rapid pace, which led to the generation of volatile shocks in close periods of the current fiscal year, which necessitated hedging against external shocks."
He added that "all these factors led to the delay in submitting budget schedules to review some of its inputs and outputs," noting that "there is significant and ongoing cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities in monitoring and managing the country's financial affairs, with understanding, interaction, and optimization of great importance to ensuring the economic stability the country is experiencing."
Regarding the impact of delayed budget schedules on projects included in the investment section, Saleh pointed out that, “Based on the Federal General Budget Law No. 13 of 2023, the three-year budget, the federal financial policy was formed based on an approach called ‘fiscal space’, which gave it the high capacity to move dozens of approved and previously suspended strategic government projects forward into implementation.
This is what distinguished it with a highly active development wheel in implementing service projects that the country is witnessing without interruption, and its results have become tangible thanks to the success of the three-year budget, in addition to the major projects approved in the 2023 and 2024 budget schedules, which are currently ongoing without interruption.”
He stressed that “the state’s investment approach is proceeding in line with the sustainability of economic development and in accordance with the high positive results currently achieved in growth rates and the great economic stability that the country is witnessing, whether in terms of declining unemployment rates, increasing economic growth, and price stability, in an active and compatible trilogy achieved as a result of the success of the country’s financial and economic policy without interruption in the wheels of public spending, including the current year 2025.”
He continued, "As far as the rights and entitlements acquired in the operational aspect of the general budget are concerned, but have not been disbursed and are contingent upon the submission of the 2025 financial schedules, these are legally protected rights reserved for their beneficiaries and are not subject to statute of limitations. They are merely a matter of timing and will be disbursed upon the approval of these schedules or any adjustment that does not conflict with the law." link