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🇮🇱 Israel /Economy & Trade

Iraq Considers Currency Overhaul to Expose Looted Funds

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Iraq is considering redenominating the dinar by removing three zeros, Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad said.
  • The central bank said no decision had been made to print a new currency and that any change would require legal and regulatory steps.
  • Supporters say the move could help uncover or confiscate trillions of dinars allegedly hidden by politicians involved in corruption.

Iraq is considering removing three zeros from the dinar, a move officials and observers say could do more than simplify everyday transactions. It could also force people holding large amounts of money obtained through corruption to exchange their cash or risk losing its value.

Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad told local media that a political decision had been made to remove zeros from the national currency. An anonymous source in the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office said the decision would be made in the coming period, with procedures hoped to begin in 2027.

There is a political decision regarding removing zeros from the national currency.

— Mustafa SanadIraq’s communications minister described the government’s position on removing zeros from the dinar.

The Central Bank of Iraq offered a more cautious account. It said there was no decision yet to print a new currency and that any future restructuring of denominations or removal of zeros would first require several legal and regulatory stages.

The decision will be made in the coming period, and it is hoped that the procedures will begin during 2027.

— Anonymous source in the Iraqi Prime Minister’s officeThe source provided an expected timetable for beginning the procedures.

The proposal comes as Iraq’s currency circulates at sharply different rates. The dollar trades at 1,320 dinars at the official rate and about 1,530 dinars on the parallel market. The article describes the dinar as overvalued, while salaries commonly reach hundreds of thousands or millions of dinars and homes sell for hundreds of millions or billions.

Iraq currently issues notes worth 250, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 and 50,000 dinars. Observers and politicians describe the proposed change as part of a broader anti-corruption campaign that has targeted several politicians. Those campaigns reportedly uncovered trillions of dinars hidden in farms or homes. If a new currency replaced the old notes, holders of those funds would have to exchange them, potentially exposing or enabling the confiscation of illicit cash.

There is no decision yet to print a new Iraqi currency, and any future move to restructure currency denominations or remove zeros will be preceded by several legal and regulatory stages.

— Central Bank of IraqThe central bank cautioned that no final decision had been made.
About this summary

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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