US dollar exchange rate remains stable in Baghdad, drops in Erbil

The US dollar exchange rate against the Iraqi dinar remained stable in Baghdad and dropped in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, on Thursday with the closure of the two main stock exchanges in the country.

The US dollar exchange rate remained stable with the closure of Baghdad’s Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges, where the US dollar exchange rate remained at 1,470 Iraqi dinars throughout the day.

The exchange rate in currency exchange shops in Baghdad ranged between 1,480 dinars and 1,460 dinars, Shafaq News reported.

In Erbil, the US dollar exchange rate slightly declined, ranging between 1,456 dinars and 1,465 dinars.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) announced in February 2023 that it started applying the new exchange rate of the US dollar, which is 1,300 dinars against one US dollar.

The previous official exchange rate was 1450 dinars to one US dollar, which was being exchanged in the parallel market at a rate of 1550 dinars.

In January 2023, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the local currency reached 1610 dinars, while the official exchange rate remained 1450 dinars per dollar, with a gap between the two exchange rates of more than 10 percent.