ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Members of the Iraqi parliament have signed a petition asking to hold a special parliamentary session over the dramatic drop of the Iraqi dinar’s value against the US dollar, which has plummeted to its lowest exchange rate in more than a decade over the past few days. The exchange rate of one USD reached 1,570 IQD in the currency markets of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region on Monday, continuing the massive depreciation of the Iraqi currency in recent weeks. ”Today, we filed a request to the parliamentary presidency and we await their approval. We hope the session takes place before the New Year,” Hussein al-Khafaji, Iraqi MP and one of the initiators of the petition, told Rudaw’s Hastyar Qadir on Monday, adding that “there is a lack of control over the value of the dinar.” The petition has reportedly been signed by 65 MPs. Khafaji said that the session would host governor of the Iraqi central bank to give him an opportunity to resolve the issue in a specific period of time, stressing that it was “illogical” for the value of the dinar to be 100 IQD lower in the markets compared to the central bank. The value of one USD was placed at 1,460 IQD at the Iraqi central bank on Monday. The depreciation of the Iraqi dinar has been attributed to the New Year holiday, the closure of banks, as well as pressure from the United States. “The increase in the value of the dollar is no longer just an economic matter, but rather a crime against the poor and a genocide committed by America and its arms in Iraq through prohibiting the entry of the dollar into the market,” read a tweet from MP Ahmad al-Musawi. In December of 2020, Iraq’s central bank announced devaluing the country’s currency in an effort to combat a national liquidity crisis and bring in much-needed cash to the government’s coffers. The devaluation of the dinar struck the public hard as government employees get paid in dinar, and they would be able to afford less with their salaries given that many imported goods are paid for in dollars.
ECONOMY26-06-2026Kurdistan trade topped $173 billion in seven years, customs revenue reached $6.8 billion
