Iraq to Ban Cash Withdrawals and Transactions in Dollar Before 2024
Iraq will ban cash withdrawals and transactions in U.S dollars as of Jan. 1 2024 in the latest push to curb the misuse of its hard currency reserves in financial crimes and the evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iran, a top Iraqi central bank official said.
The move aims to stamp out the illicit use of some 50% of the $10 billion that Iraq imports in cash from the New York Federal Reserve each year, Mazen Ahmed, director-general of investment and remittances at the Iraqi central bank (CBI), told Reuters.
It’s also part of a broader push to de-dollarize an economy that has seen the greenback preferred over local notes by a population weary of recurring wars and crises following the 2003 U.S. invasion.
People who deposit dollars into banks before the end of 2023 will continue to be able to withdraw funds in dollars in 2024, Ahmed said. But dollars deposited in 2024 could only be withdrawn in local currency at the official rate of 1,320.
The parallel market rate of the Iraqi dinar sat at 1,560 on Thursday, roughly 15% percent below the official rate. (Read more from “Iraq to Ban Cash Withdrawals and Transactions in Dollar Before 2024” HERE)
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