The Iraqi Minister of Finance, Ali Abdilamir Allawi, and his Undersecretary, Taif Sami, have been hosted in the Parliament against the backdrop of the change in the dollar’s exchange rate against the Iraqi Dinar.
The session was preceded by a meeting between the Parliament Presidium, the heads of Parliamentary blocs, and the minister himself.
In December 2020, the Central Bank of Iraq set the new rate for the dinar, which is pegged to the US dollar, at 1,450 Iraqi dinars when selling to the Iraqi Finance Ministry. The dinar will be sold to the public at 1,470 and to other banks at 1,460.
The new rates represented a dramatic reduction from the previous official rate of 1,182 IQD. It is the first reduction in exchange rates that the Iraqi government has made in decades.
As a result, according to specialists, annual inflation in Iraq has skyrocketed, with all prices of materials and goods in the Iraqi market rising significantly, igniting a wave of discontent among the public and experts equally.