Safwan Qusay, an economic specialist, projected that demand for the dollar would steadily decline and that the dollar would eventually disappear from the informal market.
In an interview with “Al-Jarida,” Qusai stated that “the central bank is trying to approach the requirements of the US Federal Bank and the US Treasury, which is determined to keep the dollar in favor of Iraqis only for official import purposes.”
He stated that “the sanctioned countries and entities are still bringing goods into Iraq, obtaining Iraqi dinars, and attempting to convert the dinar into dollars through the illegal market.”
And he predicted that “demand for the dollar will continue to decline gradually, and the dollar may disappear from the informal market,” noting that “the process of stopping the smuggling of dollar cash and introducing drugs into Iraq will contribute to reducing demand for dollars in the informal market, and I believe that the window for buying from international electronic platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba by Iraqis through the issuance of the Master Card will close.”
Qusai advocated “supporting this measure by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Central Bank, and activating the process of transformation towards financial inclusion, because the Federal Bank and the US Treasury are determined to clean up the Iraqi economy from the corrupt, and there will be tracking of the movement of the dinar and the dollar to dry up the sources of obtaining them in an informal way.”
He emphasized that “there is no alternative but to shift towards official procedures, and unofficial goods will gradually disappear, and certainly, at this stage, the Ministry of Commerce must protect consumers, especially at the level of goods that affect the lives of Iraqis.”
