The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, described the prices traded in a real parallel market as “abnormal,” while pointing out that there is great stability in prices and a decline in inflation rates.
Al-Alaq said in an interview with local media outlets: “We understand the focus on the rise in exchange rates in local markets, but we believe that the focus should be on the ability of the Central Bank to implement full coverage of foreign transfers for commercial or other purposes, and this happens on a daily basis.”
He added, “The daily dollar selling rates are high and almost sufficient to cover the needs of traders, businessmen and even citizens, and therefore we look at the price through the amount of sales that the Central Bank undertakes daily at the official price.”
He pointed out that “the Central Bank looks at another indicator, which is the inflation rate in the market, and we notice that there is great stability in prices and a decrease in the inflation rate, which indicates that foreign trade is covered by the official price, which is 132,000 dinars.” (Per dollar)
The Central Bank Governor continued: “The price that is traded in the market is in fact an abnormal price that does not reflect the true price. Usually, this price is called a parallel price when there is a real parallel market with sources of dollars other than the Central Bank.”
Al-Alaq called on citizens to “pay attention to the fact that the price they are looking at is the price at which the Central Bank sells to traders,” noting that “more than 95% of the Central Bank’s daily sales are foreign transfers, and this foreign transfer is what represents the reality of commercial and other operations that it covers at the official price.”
