Iraq plans to issue domestic bonds

GENEVA: Iraq plans to issue domestic currency debt for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein, giving the country a new monetary policy tool, its central bank chief told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

"We expect that the first issuance will be in the value of 3 billion Iraqi dinars ($2.58 million)," said Abdul-Basit Turki Saeed, speaking through an interpreter.

"This is the first time after Saddam Hussein, and this is the first time that they are being issued for monetary policy and not for financing."