The “Open Door” page received a message from citizen A. H. to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Central Bank Governor Ali Mohsen al-Alaq, and the concerned authorities to consider it and take the necessary measures.
The citizen said in his message: “Last Thursday, October 10, I visited a (government bank) in Baghdad to pay $78 for visa fees to one of the Asian countries. The bank was well-organized and dealt with well, and everything was good. I was optimistic about that, but after it was my turn to deposit the amount and write the relevant paper, I was surprised that the employee refused to receive any amount in Iraqi dinars, and said that we do not deal in dinars. I informed him that it was possible to pay it via Master or Visa, especially since these two cards were issued by the same bank, but he refused again, and asked me to deposit only in dollars. When I asked him where I can get the dollars from now, he told me that there is an exchange office adjacent to the bank that you can buy from.”
I was even more surprised that a government bank refused to accept the Iraqi dinar and advised me to buy from a foreign exchange office. Anyway, I was forced to go to the exchange office, and when I asked about the selling price, I was told that it was 1545 dinars per dollar. I hesitated a lot, should I buy at the parallel price or refuse? If I refused, it would mean that the visa would not be processed. I decided to buy, despite my dissatisfaction with the price and the bank’s actions.
One of them, standing in front of the bank gate, said to me in colloquial language: “Let’s buy at the market price.” I replied, “Yes, unfortunately.”
I left the bank after completing the transaction, and many questions were on my mind, including how many people were in my situation and why a government bank refuses the Iraqi dinar. I remembered when I applied for residency in Turkey years ago, they refused to accept any foreign amount and accepted the amount in Turkish lira, and the same is the case in other countries such as Jordan, the Emirates, foreign countries, and others.
The most important question on my mind: How will currency speculation be combated in the midst of this?!
alsabaah.iq
