The Central Bank expands its steps to stop the runaway dollar

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The Central Bank expands its steps to stop the runaway dollar

Economical  10/15/2023

 

 

  Baghdad: Haider Falih Al-Rubaie and Shukran Al-Fatlawi

 

Economic affairs specialists welcomed the Central Bank’s steps aimed at undermining the dollar and limiting its continued rise, stressing that the monetary authority’s decision to open exchange offices in four local airports is sufficient to absorb the momentum on banks that sell the dollar to travelers, and to limit the rise of the green currency in the parallel market. .

 

In a step aimed at reducing the “climbing” of the foreign currency, whose exchange rate reached 160,000 dinars per 100 dollars, the Central Bank issued a decision requiring the opening of exchange offices at the airports of Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, and Erbil, with the aim of facilitating the mechanism for travelers to obtain the dollar, but specialists Others believe that these steps are “temporary” and cannot address the imbalance from its roots, calling for the necessity of taking strict economic decisions that would put an end to what they described as the “escape” of the dollar.

 

Economist Dr. Nabil Al-Marsoumi told “Al-Sabah”: One of the most prominent criticisms directed at monetary policy in Iraq several months ago relates to the inability to meet travelers’ requests for the dollar that the Central Bank allocated to each traveler abroad, amounting to three thousand dollars.

The Al-Marsoumi expert pointed out that the difficulty of travelers obtaining dollars led some of them to sometimes spend the night at the gates of offices and banking companies, and a large portion of travelers did not receive their share in the end of the dollars allocated to them by the Central Bank, so the Central Bank’s final and final step is... By opening exchange offices in four airports, it can achieve great success if the process is implemented correctly.

 

Al-Marsoumi believes, “If the recent Central Bank decision succeeds in providing continuous dollar cash to travelers, this will eliminate one of the most important problems that the Iraqi traveler suffers from, as well as putting an end to the smuggling of a large portion of travelers’ dollars,” noting that the issue It is not only related to location, but also to the extent of the ability of the central bank and banking companies to provide continuous, uninterrupted liquidity.

 

In turn, the economic affairs specialist, Fouad Al-Hasani, pointed out that “the central bank is the body responsible for treating and managing exchange rates in the economy, as central banks play a decisive role in determining monetary policy and prices and regulating the monetary market, in addition to carrying out many activities to address exchange rates.” “Which includes setting the exchange rate and implementing an open market policy that enables central banks to regulate exchange markets by holding auctions or providing liquidity to the market with the aim of improving currency stability.”

 

Al-Hassani also pointed out the ability of central banks to adjust interest rates and determine banks’ mandatory reserve requirements to influence exchange rates, as well as applying regulatory measures to monitor and control exchange activities and combat illegal operations.