Finance Committee: Private Banks still acquires 80% of the currency auction

on their branches in the provinces, noting that private banks will acquire a total of 80% of the daily amounts of currency auction.

“The private banks acquires a total of 80% of the auction sale amounts of foreign currency at the Central Bank of Iraq, while Rasheed and Rafidain banks still enter the auction sale in a very weak manner,” the member of the Committee , Amin Hadi told “Shafaq News”.

“We urged more than once the two banks to engage strongly in the daily auction currency of the Central Bank of Iraq because they have many extensive branches in the provinces thus can distribute the largest amount of foreign currency in the provinces by their branches to end the state of control the dollar by some private banks or small businesses”.

“The Committee has not been informed until now on the real reasons behind the unwillingness of banks to engage strongly in the currency auction even though it goes backwith additional money to the banks,” adding that “the fear from dealing with dollar issue or controlling the mechanism to sell it may be one of the main reasons behind the reluctance of banks to accept the currency auction in private banks,” he said.

The Iraqi dinar exchange rate against the dollar has returned to normal gradually after a series of measures taken by the central bank of Iraq on the background of an unprecedented rise of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar.