CBI: Launching a new mechanism for travel or treatment transfers next year

INA - CAIRO

Central Bank of Iraq - CBI Governor Ali Al-Alaq announced on Monday that the monetary situation in Iraq is very excellent, indicating that external transfers for trade purposes are proceeding smoothly after the implementation of the new system.

"There are trends within the government aimed at diversifying and strengthening the national economy, as the banking sector does not flourish except when there is a diverse production base," said Al-Alaq, on the sidelines of his participation in the opening of the activities of the Arab Sustainable Development Week Forum in its 5th edition, held in Cairo, Egypt - attended by the reporter of the Iraqi News Agency - INA.  

He noted, "Iraq suffers from heavy reliance on economic activity related to the oil sector, which contributes mainly to transferring oil resources to the trade sector. This constitutes a major imbalance in the structure of the economy. In other words, oil revenues are converted into building the economies of other countries through the large volume of imports. This requires the necessity of activating the banking sector to provide the necessary financing to establish real projects in the basic economic sectors, especially in the industrial and agricultural sectors, in addition to other sectors. I believe that this trend will contribute to reducing dependence on oil resources, in addition to providing job opportunities and real economic growth."

"The monetary situation in Iraq is currently very excellent. The high volume of foreign reserves enables CBI to support and defend the exchange rate and achieve monetary stability, despite the difficult circumstances surrounding the countries of the region. CBI is working to find ways and means to meet all the needs of the country, citizens and the business sector for foreign currency," added Al-Alaq.

He pointed out, "Whenever the conditions and factors necessary for transfer operations or demand for foreign currency are available, CBI is ready to deal with this demand without any fears or concerns, which contributes to maintaining stability."

"CBI is currently distinguished from the rest of the countries in the region by its ability to respond to providing the country's needs for foreign currency, whether for the public or private sectors or even the civil sector, to meet various types of requests for foreign currency," he explained, noting "there is a historical transformation taking place in the framework of foreign transfers and meeting requests for the US dollar, as there were many observations that necessitated changing the procedures and policies related to dealing with foreign currency and providing it."

Al-Alaq stated that "CBI has implemented a new system for foreign transfers to ensure their fluidity and transparency, despite the challenges and difficulties that faced the implementation of these procedures at the beginning, but we have overcome those obstacles. Today, the process of foreign transfers for commercial purposes is proceeding smoothly, which explains the general control over prices and inflation, as the CBI continues to provide the dollar for trade at the official price."

"New methods have also been opened for transfers using other currencies, such as Turkey, India and China, in addition to European countries. This will make the process of foreign transfers more flexible and streamlined while ensuring transparency and oversight that enhances trust and credibility in the operations we carry out," he noted.

Regarding the provision of transfers for citizens for various purposes, such as travel, treatment or any legitimate transfers abroad, Al-Alaq confirmed, "We will launch a new method next year to expand and enhance these operations, just as we did for commercial transfers."



"There are agreements currently in place with relevant companies such as - Visa, Mastercard, MoneyGram, Western Union - to establish a new framework for implementing these operations, which will constitute another shift in controlling these operations," said Al-Alaq, adding that "next year or the beginning of 2025 will witness the completion of the current procedures. We seek to provide reassurance, especially with some people's questions about the fate of transfers after the completion of the electronic platform at the end of this year 2024."

He included “There is no sudden transition, but rather a gradual transition that began in 2024, where the banks’ relationship was transferred directly to correspondent banks without passing through other links, and the process has been completed with continued success. More than 95% of this goal has been achieved, and this process will be completed successfully within the next two weeks. There is international anticipation to celebrate this occasion.”