The governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, revealed that the volume of electronic payment dealings jumped to a record from 800 billion to 2 trillion dinars within one year, while government payments reached 912 billion dinars in July 2024.
Al-Alaq, speaking at a workshop on promoting electronic payments organized by the “Osoul” Foundation for Economic and Sustainable Development and covered by Shafaq News Agency, said, “The CBI is aligning with the government program and the Prime Minister’s directives to support electronic payments.” An Iranian news agency quoted Deputy Central Bank of Iraq Governor Amer Al-Alaq as saying the bank was working to implement e-payments in accordance with the government program and the orders of the prime minister.
“We are very proud of the achievements so far, with large increases made in the amount processed through the national exchange in 2023, which reflects improved infrastructure, expanded use of electronic payment channels, and the impact of the PM’s campaign to boost electronic payments, especially in the government sector.”
He added that “in 2024, upward trends continued with processed amounts in national exchange systems breaching the 2 trillion Iraqi dinars mark in July alone, compared to 800 billion dinars in July 2023, and 1 trillion dinars in December 2024.”
“Added to that are government payments, which increased to 912 billion dinars last July from 287 million dinars in July 2023.
Further, Al-Alaq reported that “payments at Baghdad gas stations surged to over 44 billion dinars in July 2024, up from 183 million dinars in July 2023 – equivalent to 139,694.65 USD according to the current exchange rate – and 4.5 billion dinars in December 2023 equivalent to 3,435,114.46 USD.”
He also added that “the number of POS points of sale has grown significantly and currently stands at over 50,000 this year, from about 11,000 at the beginning of 2023, including thousands in government institutions, from zero before the campaign commenced on 1 June 2023.”
“We wish for government units to establish specialized units that oversee and push forward electronic payment technologies.”
