The Parliamentary Financial Committee criticized, on Wednesday, the recent decision of the Central Bank of Iraq to allow exchange companies to sell dollars to citizens who wish to travel, while not ruling out that this will lead to new American sanctions on the country.
The vice chairman of the committee, Ahmed Mazhar, told Shafaq News Agency that “the central bank made a wrong decision when it allowed exchange companies to sell dollars directly to citizens who want to travel outside Iraq.”
Mazhar asked, “We don’t know how the administration of the Central Bank made such a decision?”, stating that “this decision may conflict with the policy of the US Treasury Department, and new sanctions may be issued against the Central Bank if the situation continues as it is now.”
He noted that the market has been negatively affected by the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department. As a result, the value of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar is expected to continue to increase.
On Monday, the Central Bank of Iraq, as reported by Shafaq News Agency, decided to “facilitate the sale of cash in the currency of the US dollar for travelers, appointing to allow profitable exchange companies (A and B) willing to open accounts with this bank in the currency of dinar and dollar for the purpose of participating in the sale window.”
