Iraq to pay for imports from Turkey in Iraqi dinar
An aerial view of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The president of the Iraqi Private Banks League (IPBL), Wadee Al-Handal, confirmed that Iraq and Turkey would maintain constant communication in the days ahead in order to carry out the recent agreement about financing for foreign trade, which is being implemented under the direction of the Iraqi government.
Al-Handal told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that an Iraqi-Turkish committee was established during the recent visit of an Iraqi delegation of senior officials to Turkey. The committee’s goal is to finance commerce and promote financial cooperation between the two countries.
According to the president of the IPBL, Turkey has demonstrated exceptional adaptability in funding commerce by allowing Iraqi importers to make payments in Iraqi dinar and paying Turkish exporters in Turkish lira.
Al-Handal believes that the agreements Iraq has reached with its neighbors to finance international commerce in local currency would cause the US dollar exchange rate to decrease in the parallel market.
The IPBL’s president revealed that small-scale merchants who import goods from Turkey will be able to finance their imports in Iraqi dinars through private banks in Iraq.
Al-Handal said last month that the recent measures of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) and the government regarding trade financing using currencies, such as the euro, the UAE dirham, the Chinese yuan, and the Indian rupee, represent a step toward reducing the exchange rate of the US dollar in the parallel market.
Iraq’s private banks are taking great steps in expanding international relations with international banks to facilitate the financing of Iraqi trade with countries around the world.