Iraqi premier to raise Iraqi dinar value

“The interests of the needy were not taken into consideration in devaluing Iraqi currency. We tend not to repeat that in this cabinet,” he said
Mohammed Shia al-Sudan, Iraqi Prime Minister.
Mohammed Shia al-Sudan, Iraqi Prime Minister.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi government with the help of the Central Bank of Iraq, do its best to increase the price of Iraqi dinar against US dollar, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Iraq’s new premier, said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“The interests of the needy were not taken into consideration in devaluing Iraqi currency. We tend not to repeat that in this cabinet,” he said.

Tackling endemic corruption in the country is one of the priorities of this cabinet, he said.

The Iraqi government work with other neighboring other countries to return Iraq’s “stolen money,” he added.

Faced by financial crisis caused by low oil prices amid COVID-19 pandemic, the Iraqi Central Bank decided to devalue the currency, setting the exchange rate at 1,460 dinars per dollar to the public.

Before the decision, each dollar was traded at 1,182 Iraqi dinars.

As Iraq’s market is heavily relied upon imports, the decision sparked public outrage and demonstrations, outcrying the rising prices of commodities.

The former Finance Minister Ali A. Allawi argued that the rising commodity prices was part of the global inflation, defending the devaluation decision as it had increased the state revenue amid liquidity crisis.