Iraq – Concerns over a return of money laundering following a decision by Central Bank of Iraq

The Central Bank of Iraq’s decision to resume daily sessions for selling foreign currency to the dollar has raised concerns and fears among economists and monetary policy specialists, being one of the major axes of corruption, according to their description. The economic expert, Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, stated that from 2010, 15% of the money from the currency sale window has gone towards money laundering and hard currency smuggling, despite the presence of international monitoring organizations, as well as the existence of manipulation of the value of the official exchange rate with the local market, while banking experts denied the occurrence of any money laundering in the dollar currency. What is rumored in the media is not true, and they stressed that Iraq is subject to international monitoring because of neighboring countries and the ongoing conflicts in the region.