Iraq bumps up dinar’s value to stem fluctuations

BAGHDAD: Iraq on Tuesday nudged up the value of its local currency against the dollar in an effort to stabilise the dinar after tougher foreign transfer regulations sent its value fluctuating.

The government adopted a new official exchange rate, fixing it at 1,300 dinars to the US dollar instead of 1,470, the prime minister’s office said.

Since November, the currency’s street value has been on a roller-coaster ride, which analysts and officials have attributed to efforts to bring Iraq’s banking system into compliance with the regulations of the international electronic transfer system known as SWIFT. Some days the dinar lost up to 15 percent of its market value against the dollar before recovering, prompting protests by Iraqis concerned about their purchasing power. On Tuesday, Baghdad “ratified the decision of the central bank’s board of directors to change the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, to 1,300 to the dollar”, a statement from Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani’s office said.