Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's foreign reserves fell by nearly 17% in the first seven months of 2026 to $80.633 billion, with reserves declining by more than $5.5 billion in July alone, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) said on Saturday.

Foreign reserves stood at $86.175 billion at the end of June, down from $97.432 billion at the end of 2025. The decline over the first seven months amounted to about $16.799 billion.

Measured in Iraqi dinars, the value of foreign reserves fell to 104.823 trillion dinars ($65.625B) at the end of July, from 112.027 trillion dinars ($70.157B) at the end of June and 126.661 trillion dinars ($79.317B) at the end of 2025.

Gold holdings moved in the opposite direction in July, rising slightly to 29.665 trillion dinars ($18.571B) from 29.415 trillion dinars ($18.414B) a month earlier. They remained below the 31.488 trillion dinars ($19.711B) recorded at the end of 2025.

CBI investments declined to 75.034 trillion dinars ($46.966B) at the end of July, compared with 81.998 trillion dinars ($51.332B) at the end of June and 93.266 trillion dinars ($58.383B) at the end of last year.

Cash held in the central bank's vaults also fell sharply, reaching 124 billion dinars ($77.621M) at the end of July, compared with 614 billion dinars ($384.977M) a month earlier and 1.907 trillion dinars ($1.194B) at the end of 2025.