An economic expert revealed an “unprecedented” figure for the value of the dollars purchased by the Central Bank of Iraq from the Ministry of Finance during the month of July.
“The Central Bank of Iraq purchased $9.6 billion from the Ministry of Finance in July 2024, the highest value since the bank began purchasing dollars from the ministry in 2003,” Manar Al-Obaidi said in a statement received by {Euphrates News}.
He added, “The purchases did not exceed this value during the past ten years except once in October of last year, at $10 billion.”
Al-Obaidi explained, “Thus, the rate of dollar purchases from the Central Bank for the year 2024 has reached $5.9 billion per month, the highest over the past ten years, with an annual growth rate of 10%. The growth rate had previously risen in 2023 to 20%.”
He attributed “this increase in purchases to the Ministry of Finance’s need for local currency to cover its increasing expenses over the past years, especially with the increase in operating spending and raising the level of spending in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 budgets.”
Al-Obaidi expected that “this rate will rise in the coming months with the Central Bank’s inability to meet the need for Iraqi dinars, which may force it to increase the issued monetary mass to meet the ministry’s expenditure needs.”
alforatnews.iq
