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Iraq: US Did Not Impose Conditions over Dollar Crisis

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)
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Iraq: US Did Not Impose Conditions over Dollar Crisis

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)

Iraq denied claims that the US had imposed conditions on its delegation, which recently visited Washington, regarding the dollar exchange issue.

An Iraqi delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, had visited Washington and met with Secretary of the State Antony Blinken earlier this month.

During a press conference in Baghdad on Monday, Hussein denied that conditions were imposed on the delegation, noting that the electronic platform launched by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) would determine benefit from the dollars and help end smuggling.

He explained that the delegation included officials from various sectors, including senior officials from the financial and banking industries. He added that the visit addressed political issues, but mainly focused on the economy, fighting corruption, and combating ISIS terrorism.

He assured the Iraqi people "the financial and oil cover proves that the Iraqi currency is strong," adding that the dollar crisis occurred because of the electronic financing system.

Moreover, he revealed that the SWIFT platform had uncovered many manipulations and counterfeit bills. It will help stop and prevent dollar smuggling and determine the number of dollar bills in the market.

Hussein indicated that Iraq is a "consumer society" and imports many of its needs, which requires the availability of dollars, noting that Iraqi reserves exceeded $100 billion.

He added that it is only a matter of time before the exchange rate stabilizes.

The minister also denied reports that Iraq was seeking to normalize relations with Israel, asserting that it was not discussed with the US officials or any political blocs.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury announced that Iraq's possession of US bonds rose to more than $40 billion.

The Treasury said Iraq's possession of US Treasury bonds surpassed $40 billion, rising from $39.717 billion in October 2022. This marked an increase of 81.4 percent compared to the same month in 2021.

Iraqi bonds, including long-term guarantees, amounted to $28.239 billion, and short-term guarantees amounted to $12.575 billion, representing 0.55 percent of the world's bonds.

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Cash Crunch Leaves Syrians Queueing for Hours to Collect Salaries

Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
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Cash Crunch Leaves Syrians Queueing for Hours to Collect Salaries

Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrian civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs, and withdrawals are capped. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

Seated on the pavement outside a bank in central Damascus, Abu Fares's face is worn with exhaustion as he waits to collect a small portion of his pension.
"I've been here for four hours and I haven't so much as touched my pension," said the 77-year-old, who did not wish to give his full name.

"The cash dispensers are under-stocked and the queues are long," he continued.

Since the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad last December, Syria has been struggling to emerge from the wake of nearly 14 years of civil war, and its banking sector is no exception.

Decades of punishing sanctions imposed on the Assad dynasty -- which the new authorities are seeking to have lifted -- have left about 90 percent of Syrians under the poverty line, according to the United Nations.

The liquidity crisis has forced authorities to drastically limit cash withdrawals, leaving much of the population struggling to make ends meet.

Prior to his ousting, Assad's key ally Russia held a monopoly on printing banknotes. The new authorities have only announced once that they have received a shipment of banknotes from Moscow since Assad's overthrow.
In a country with about 1.25 million public sector employees, civil servants must queue at one of two state banks or affiliated ATMs to make withdrawals, capped at about 200,000 Syrian pounds, the equivalent on the black market of $20 per day.

In some cases, they have to take a day off just to wait for the cash.

"There are sick people, elderly... we can't continue like this," said Abu Fares.

'Meagre sums'
"There is a clear lack of cash, and for that reason we deactivate the ATMs at the end of the workday," an employee at a private bank told AFP, preferring not to give her name.

A haphazard queue of about 300 people stretches outside the Commercial Bank of Syria. Some are sitting on the ground.

Afraa Jumaa, a civil servant, said she spends most of the money she withdraws on the travel fare to get to and from the bank.

"The conditions are difficult and we need to withdraw our salaries as quickly as possible," said the 43-year-old.
"It's not acceptable that we have to spend days to withdraw meagre sums."

The local currency has plunged in value since the civil war erupted in 2011, prior to which the dollar was valued at 50 pounds.

Economist Georges Khouzam explained that foreign exchange vendors -- whose work was outlawed under Assad -- "deliberately reduced cash flows in Syrian pounds to provoke rapid fluctuations in the market and turn a profit".

Muntaha Abbas, a 37-year-old civil servant, had to return three times to withdraw her entire salary of 500,000 pounds.

"There are a lot of ATMs in Damascus, but very few of them work," she said.

After a five-hour wait, she was finally able to withdraw 200,000 pounds.

"Queues and more queues... our lives have become a series of queues," she lamented.