Iraqi economist warns of gap between official and parallel USD exchange rates

Shafaq News/ Economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi warned, on Wednesday, of the growing disparity between the parallel market exchange rate of the US dollar and the official rate set by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), and its potential impact on the Iraqi market.

Al-Marsoumi stated, "If traveler dollars actually reach travelers, the parallel dollar will soar, widening the gap between it and the official dollar." He explained that "a significant portion of the cash dollars will be hoarded by travelers, reducing the available supply of cash dollars typically used to fund private sector imports of Iranian goods and cover the needs of travelers to countries under US sanctions."

Al-Marsoumi added that "if the cash dollar exceeds 1,600 IQD per dollar, this will significantly undermine the competitiveness of Iranian goods in the Iraqi market."

Notably, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar has risen following CBI's decision to allocate dollars to travelers exclusively at airports and issue instructions to currency exchange companies accordingly.