A government source revealed on Tuesday a package of measures to address the difference in the exchange rate, while noting that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani directed the activation of a committee to hold serious discussions with the US Treasury Department regarding transfers.
The government source told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “the government has taken a package of measures to address the difference in the exchange rate, including: organizing the import process and ensuring the entry of the largest number of traders and importers to the window of selling foreign currency by facilitating the procedures for opening the account, deposit operations and other procedures related to the issuance of the identity of the importer, which will facilitate the requirements of (know your customer) for the category of traders and importers,” indicating that “there are ongoing negotiations between the government and the Central Bank with the Iranian side to regulate trade between the two countries and take the best options in terms of payment of dues and amounts and discussions are taking place at a good pace.”
He added that “Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani directed work on a number of important projects to ensure that the poor and middle-income groups are not affected by the exchange rate difference, as the Ministries of Commerce and Health are working to import important materials and provide them in Iraqi dinars at stable prices, such as the food basket project (sand at stable prices), the pharmaceutical basket, the construction basket and the reserve materials basket for the transport sector, and some of them began to work on it for a while.”
He added that “the government is now working on the project (the equal deal) to exchange trade and imports with some countries such as China and India and with their own currencies from the main trading partners of Iraq, such as India, China and some neighboring countries,” noting that “the government is currently studying the establishment of a free zone to import materials and then marketing them to the private sector and ensure their delivery to the consumer at competitive prices and Iraqi dinars. The government is also currently studying the re-export project and there are important discussions in this regard.”
He pointed out that “the government has issued a series of measures to develop electronic payment systems and reduce dependence on cash, and a series of other decisions will be issued in the coming days related to the pricing policy and incentive for services provided through electronic payment.”
He explained that “Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani directed the activation of a joint committee between the government, the Central Bank and the private sector and under the supervision of his office to hold serious discussions with the US Treasury regarding transfers through the foreign currency sale window and the committee has started its meetings from now.”
He pointed out that “the government is holding continuous discussions with the Central Bank of Iraq on a number of topics, including facilitating procedures related to the import of the dollar (cash) by Iraqi banks. This process has already begun through some banks to import dollars and the process will expand to include other banks. Work is also underway to conclude agreements to supply the currencies of some countries to be provided through banks and banking companies to meet the need of Iraqi tourists and Umrahmen who are going to those countries other than the dollar currency.”
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