CBI protects pre-devaluation import transfers

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi traders should not be charged exchange-rate differences on import-financing transfers due for execution before October 7 that were purchased and covered at the old rate, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) said on Saturday.

The CBI urged companies and traders to check with their banks and confirm the transfers had been executed. It has already provided banks with the funds needed to cover those transfers and was monitoring any delays and compliance with “applicable instructions and regulations.”

Traders facing delays or demands for additional payments can file complaints through the CBI’s official complaints platform for follow-up with the banks concerned.

The CBI is also working with banks and electronic payment companies to introduce special foreign-trade cards for small traders to facilitate import financing under mechanisms and regulations set by the bank.

Iraq’s new exchange-rate structure took effect on October 7. Under the new structure, the CBI buys dollars from the Finance Ministry at 1,500 dinars, sells them to banks at 1,510, and sells cash dollars to the public at 1,520, while the previous end-user rate was 1,320 dinars per dollar. The bank said at the time that its foreign reserves guaranteed full and immediate coverage of external transfers used to finance trade, bank-card settlements, and cash dollar sales to travelers without restrictions.

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