Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq’s Rafidain Bank has introduced an “advance electronic booking requirement” for selling US dollars to travelers, according to an informed source on Saturday.

The source told Shafaq News that, under the procedure, customers must reserve their dollar allocation several days before travel through the bank’s online platform, rather than completing the transaction on the same day. Travelers then collect the allocated cash at a Rafidain Bank outlet inside Baghdad International Airport at the official exchange rate of 1,320 Iraqi dinars per dollar.

Repeated calls to allow direct sales without prior booking have not been addressed, the source added.

In January 2024, the Central Bank of Iraq froze the bank’s dollar allocation, halting its ability to supply cash currency to travelers amid investigations into suspected foreign currency embezzlement at Baghdad International Airport.