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Iraq 🇮🇶 will ban cash withdrawals and transactions in U.S dollars as of Jan. 1 2024 in the latest push to curb the “misuse of its hard currency reserves“ through evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iran 🇮🇷 and Syria 🇸🇾. The move aims to stamp out the “illicit use“ of some 50% of the $10 billion that Iraq imports in cash from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRB-NY) each year. The country has been facing USD shortages for a long time. It’s also part of a broader push to de-dollarize an economy that has seen the greenback preferred over local notes by a population weary of recurring wars and crises following the 2003 U.S. 🇺🇸 invasion. Dollars deposited in 2024 could only be withdrawn in local currency at the official rate of 1,320. The parallel market rate of the Iraqi dinar sat at 1,560 on Oct. 5th 2023. The ban would only apply to accounts receiving transfers from abroad. Iraq’s regulation of wire transfers is set up with authorities in the U.S., where Iraq’s $120 billion in reserves from oil sales are held. Many local banks have already been limiting dollar cash withdrawals in the past months. Iraq is seeking a special shipment of $1 billion in cash from the FRB-NY, but U.S. officials have withheld approval. Iraqi 🇮🇶 officials with ties to powerful militias deeply involved in dollar transactions have denounced new restrictions imposed by Washington, calling them an infringement on Iraqi sovereignty. The FRB-NY has also blacklisted several Iraqi banks suspected of money laundering and carrying out suspicious transactions. The Gulf War in 1991, followed by harsh UN 🇺🇳-imposed economic sanctions and the US-led invasion in 2003, caused a substantial devaluation of the Iraqi dinar. As a result, Iraqis have turned to the US dollar for a wide range of transactions. Video source - FirstPost Источник: The Paradigm Shift Channel ⏳
