A currency exchange agent counts US dollars in a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. Photo: Hussein Faleh/AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The exchange rate for the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar experienced a slight increase on Thursday in both Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The US dollar exchange rate rose in Baghdad’s al-Kifah and al-Harithiya stock exchanges, reaching 1,665.5 Iraqi dinars compared to 1,665 Iraqi dinars on Thursday morning.
The exchange rate in currency exchange shops in Baghdad ranged between 1,670 Iraqi dinars and 1,660 Iraqi dinars, Shafaq News reported.
In Erbil, the US dollar exchange rate also increased, fluctuating between 1,664 and 1,663 Iraqi dinars.
US dollar exchange rates rose noticeably in the Baghdad and Erbil markets on October 7, following the cabinet’s decision to revalue the official rate of the local currency, causing turbulence and instability in the parallel market.
Iraq officially depreciated its national currency, with the baseline dropping from about 1,300 Iraqi dinars to 1,500 dinars per US dollar.
The Iraqi cabinet approved the structural adjustment, which marks a 14.5 percent decline compared to the previous official framework that had been in place since early 2023.
Following the announcement, parallel market rates in Baghdad and Erbil soared, with exchange shops reporting market gains of more than 1,700 Iraqi dinars per US dollar.