The local markets in Iraq experienced a decline in the exchange rate of the dollar on Friday, driven by expectations of further depreciation of the U.S. dollar against the dinar, following Iran's cessation of dollar purchases from the Iraqi black market after costs rose to unprecedented levels.
A report by the "Middle East Eye" revealed that Iranian authorities found themselves compelled to pay 400 thousand for every million dollars to obtain the currency, resulting in significant economic losses that forced them to stop illegal dollar purchases from the Iraqi black market.
The report indicated that "Iran's halt in purchases significantly increased the levels of currency available in the Iraqi market," emphasizing that "exchange offices and private banks that held large amounts of dollars, which were being withdrawn from the Iraqi market for Iran's benefit, now find themselves with large quantities of U.S. currency without many buyers following Iran's halt in purchasing."
It continued: "According to information obtained by the network from an official in Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office, Iran has stopped buying dollars from Iraq for a week, which has positively impacted the availability of hard currency in the Iraqi market. This halt was accompanied by Iran shifting its focus towards a new mechanism to obtain dollars."
The network disclosed that "Iranian authorities, which were paying large sums to currency smugglers, including individuals whose names were used to obtain amounts reaching seven thousand dollars for travel outside Iraq, have now found a new way to supply their economy with dollars through prepaid electronic payment cards, which they claimed are now under pressure as well."
According to the network, Iraqi authorities quickly revealed "operations for obtaining currency using prepaid electronic payment cards heading abroad, and detained several travelers possessing large amounts of these cards," which prompted Iran to impose another temporary halt on obtaining dollars through the cards.
