Massacre” of the dollar in Iraq … Official movement against fraud at the auction “Central”
The auction did not support the value of the dinar (AFP)
Baghdad – The file of the “auction of hard currency” in Iraq to the forefront after the comments of deputies in parliament, demanding the Prime Minister and the Supreme Judicial Council and the public prosecution in the country, put an end to the massive corruption carried out through the auction of hard currency organized by the Central Bank of Iraq every day.
The bank sells between 140 million and 160 million dollars for public and private companies and banks, as part of a plan adopted since 2004 to control the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar and prevent its collapse in the market.
In 2004, during the Coalition Provisional Authority formed by the United States after the US-British occupation of Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq established the so-called “daily auction of hard currency,” in an effort to raise the value of the Iraqi dinar, and sales amounted to more than 200 million dollars Sometimes this amount is usually from Iraqi oil revenues sold.
The auction has continued this way since. Iraqi observers and officials estimate the value of the dollar sold in this auction over the past 15 years by more than $ 300 billion, most of which went from Iraq to other countries without benefiting the Iraqi dinar and its value, which is still under the logic of the fifth largest oil producer in the world (1200 dinars per dollar).
The Central Bank of Iraq allows only limited companies and banks to enter the auction and buy the dollar. The word “auction” here is not a metaphor for what is happening on a daily basis, as the bank pre-determines its selling price to the dollar by 1180 dinars per dollar for banks and companies to sell at 1200 dinars to the dollar. Finally, the bank specified who is allowed to enter the auction, and the number was reduced to less than 50 banks and financial companies that are licensed by the Central Bank of Iraq and all are private or private.
A senior Iraqi official in Baghdad told the “New Arab” that the government is considering the dollar auction, which turned into a black hole to smuggle the dollar out of the country without achieving its goal of strengthening the strength of the dinar. He added that “Iran is the first beneficiary of the dollar auction, followed by Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan The conversion of the dollar is under the cover of the import of materials and goods and the purchase of shares and investments in those countries and some of them transferred through private offices and the Iraqi citizen does not benefit from this massacre.
The official stressed that the government is considering several options to strengthen the dinar, such as the deletion of zeros or determine the price globally, as do many countries in the Arabian Gulf. The survival of the dollar inside Iraq is better than removing it, and the continuation of this primitive formula cost the country large losses.
He pointed to the existence of a committee of experts studying reasonable options, after confirming documents and documents that Iraqi oil money in hard currency easily flow abroad because of this auction.
The Iraqi official revealed that the Integrity Commission is currently investigating the largest case of money laundering in Iraq up to two billion dollars accused of banks and companies, some of them linked to political parties “and we hope that there are other files close to the search and investigation of the Integrity Commission on the same subject, Difficult of Iraq “.
Expert on the Iraqi market for securities Ali al-Saadawi explained to the “new Arab”, that “stop the auction may not be able to the government now that a large part of the dollar ends in Tehran,” saying that committees, experts and financial observers advised the Central Bank to stop the auction, “He said.
In contrast, accused the Iraqi parliamentarian Alia Nassif, the Iraqi banks did not call the exploitation of the auction sale of currency in ways that twisted to achieve rich rich at the expense of the Iraqi people, “according to a statement issued on Wednesday She said the statements of former Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that there are six billion dollars disappeared and Turning it into a fictitious account. It is now time for regulators to retrieve stolen people’s money and pursue corrupt people. ”
And called on the Prime Minister to prosecute what she described as “whales of corruption,” promising to open the file of the auction of hard currency to the prosecution, “and that it has” all the evidence and information to expose these thieves. ”
In contrast, a member of the Finance Committee, Majida Tamimi, people said that they belong to Political corruption department in the Central Bank, and vowed to disclose corruption files belonging to government banks soon.