A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee criticized the Central Bank of Iraq’s policies on Thursday, stating that they had lost control of the parallel market. The committee member also expressed concern over a project between the Central Bank and the Federal Reserve, which they deemed to be risky.
During a recent committee meeting, Thamer Dhiban expressed concern over the lack of a clear economic vision and policy for the central bank to control the unofficial and illegal parallel market. As a result, some merchants, contractors, and investors are facing obstacles and a lack of support from the central bank, leading them to turn to the parallel market to purchase dollars.
“He stated that despite the government and security services’ efforts to control the market and pursue currency disputes and dollar monopolies, they were ineffective. The exchange rate continues to rise due to the high demand for the dollar.”
He warned that the Central Bank is currently involved in a risky project with the US Federal Bank. In his opinion, if the Central Bank goes ahead with the project at the start of next year, it could lead to a financial crisis and cause the dollar to rise, resulting in market instability. Therefore, it is important for the bank’s management to make accurate financial and economic calculations to prevent any negative consequences.
According to his statement, the project between the Central Bank and the US Federal Bank will not involve any dealing in dollars in 2024. Instead, dollar transactions will only be limited to official transactions with certain banks as decided by the Central Bank.
