On the impact of the difficult economic crisis that Iraq is going through, especially with the rise in the exchange rate and the subsequent repercussions that greatly affected the citizens’ living lives, US officials revealed that the depreciation of the Iraqi dinar and the rise in the prices of foodstuffs and imported goods is due to the noticeable change in the policy it adopts. The US Treasury and Federal Reserve in New York towards Baghdad.
It has been shown that the United States is implementing measures to curb money laundering and stop the illegal seizure of dollars by Iraqi commercial banks for the benefit of Iran and other countries subject to sanctions in the Middle East, according to a report by the American Wall Street Journal.
Firm controls
The report also revealed that the Federal Reserve, last November, began imposing stricter controls on the transactions of Iraqi commercial banks that had been operating under less strict rules since the US invasion in 2003, stressing that the time had come to make the Iraqi banking system comply with money transfer practices. Globalism.
Also, since the entry into force of the new measures, 80% or more of daily dollar transfers to Iraq have been banned, noting that their total previously amounted to more than $250 million per day.
He attributed the reason for the ban to insufficient information about the destination of the funds or other errors, according to official Iraqi data.
Rising prices
It is noteworthy that, in light of the scarcity of the dollar, the value of the Iraqi currency fell by up to 10% against the dollar, which led to a sharp rise in the prices of imported goods, including basic commodities such as eggs, flour and cooking oil.
And US officials confirm that the strict rules for electronic dollar transfers by Iraqi private banks were not surprising to officials in Baghdad, but rather have been implemented jointly since last November, that is, after two years of discussions and planning between the Central Bank of Iraq, the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board.
They added that the rise in the dollar exchange rate was not due to the new measures.
They emphasized that the measures would limit the ability of malicious actors to use the Iraqi banking system, according to the report.
