The Dollar Gap Runs Through Iran
Iraq's Central Bank says trade with Iran is one reason the street dollar stays high, as Baghdad starts closing its Iran crossings.
Wednesday, October 21. On Tuesday an adviser at Iraq's Central Bank put on the record one of the things that keeps Baghdad's street dollar above the bank's.
Mahmoud Dagher said Iraq's large trade with its eastern neighbour cannot be paid for through Iraqi banks because of international sanctions. So the traders who run it buy their dollars in cash, on the street. In our translation: "the gap will continue as long as there is informal demand for dollars for cash trade transactions." He called talk of closing it fully premature.
That sentence goes a long way to explaining the past week. Since Thursday the Central Bank and Washington have opened one official dollar door after another. On Tuesday Baghdad's market finished higher anyway, at 168,700 IQD for $100, with the official price at 152,000.
Then, late on Tuesday night Baghdad time, came an order at the border that trade crosses. On al-Zaidi's direction, an official source says, the Al-Sheeb crossing with Iran closed from 6am on Wednesday, and Iraq's other border posts with Iran are to shut one at a time.
Today: what the Central Bank said, where the street stands, the doors that opened, the border, Monday's order on weapons, prices, the budget, and Hormuz.
Reset Intelligence / Research Desk
Your deep research analyst.
Put any question on the IQD, the RV or the reset to the RI research assistant. It answers in seconds and will conduct deep research to find you the answer.
Try the Research Assistant