Hideo Nakamura The Iraqi government just made a new rule that started on May 14th. This regulation is meant to make the Iraqi dinar, which is the official money of Iraq, be used more in day-to-day transactions rather than the U.S. dollar; also, it will help prevent the U.S. dollar from being abused in illegal markets.
Promoting the Dinar
The government in Iraq has forbidden people from using the American dollar for their personal and business deals. This means that people should instead use Iraqi dinars, which is their country’s currency. This law was made on Sunday to promote the use of dinars among Iraqis and also decrease the growing popularity of the dollar in Iraq.
The government in Iraq wants to close the gap between what they are offering for exchanging money (known as official exchange rate) and what people can get on the black market.
The ministry of Iraq said this: “We use dinar as national money, when you choose dinar to pay, it helps make our country more powerful and our economy stronger”.
The law states that trading in any currency other than the Iraqi dinar is not allowed and those who try to damage the Iraqi dinar or its economy will be held responsible.
Iraq Increases Penalties for Using Foreign Currency
To stop people from using foreign currency for business deals in Iraq, the Interior Ministry’s Anti-organised Crime Directorate is asking traders to promise that they will only use Iraqi dinar. General Hussein Al Tamimi, who works at the directorate, said people who break this rule will be fined one million Iraqi dinars (around $680). If someone does it again, they could end up having to go to prison.
“If someone does something wrong again, they will be punished with 1 year in prison and need to pay one-million Iraqi dinar. If they made a third mistake, the punishment will be double and their business license will be taken away.”
The U.S. dollar ban has caused a lot of stress in places where exchanging money takes place. These areas are only allowing people they know to trade, and government law enforcement officers are patrolling them to make sure the ban is followed. Some trading markets have even had people be arrested because of this policy, according to local press reports.
In Iraq, using the U.S. dollar is prohibited. This means it’s hard for citizens to buy real estate and cars because sellers demand payment in foreign currency. The reason why the U.S. dollar is scarce is because of the sanctions that have been set by the U.S government against Iraq.
What do you make of this? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Sources of images we sometimes use are Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Wiki Commons.
