Iraq’s central bank says the country will restrict all its internal commercial and other transactions to the Iraqi dinar instead of the US dollar as of next year.
Governor of Iraq’s Central Bank Ali al-Allaq was quoted by Iraqi News Agency (INA) as making the remark in a Sunday meeting with the heads of the boards and authorized directors of the banks licensed in Iraq.
“The coming year will witness the restriction of internal commercial and other transactions to the Iraqi dinar instead of the (US) dollar, except for those delivered to travelers,” he said.
The official added that the measure was aimed at “controlling the general level of prices and lowering the inflation rate, which is a basic indicator of the effectiveness of monetary policy.”
Al-Allaq said “the new system of external transfer and sale of the US dollar” was meant to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism, and was also aimed at facilitating direct relations between Iraqi banks and their international counterparts.”
