The Central Bank of Iraq revealed that its foreign currency reserves exceeded $55 billion, after the recovery of oil selling prices on global markets.
The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Ihssan Shamran, pointed out that "the bank’s reserves exceeded $55 billion due to the rise in oil prices and the decrease in domestic demand for dollars."
The Central Bank does not issue periodic figures for the value of foreign exchange reserves, but Abdul Hadi al-Saadawi, a member of the Parliament’s Financial Committee, had previously indicated that foreign currency reserves had reached 51 billion dollars.
Iraq reduced the value of the dinar last December, after the collapse of global oil prices, which represent a major source of Iraqi financial resources. The Central Bank decided at the time to set the level of 1460 dinars per dollar, a price for selling foreign currency to banks.
The average exchange rate of the dollar is currently at 1455 dinars for purchase, and 1465 dinars for sale, in the main stock market and local markets. Since the beginning of last February, oil prices have witnessed a strong rally, as it achieved monthly gains of about 20 percent, recording the fourth consecutive monthly gains.
Source (Anadolu Agency, Edited)
