ARTICLE AD BOX
🔗 “Dinar: Cash Culture Dominates Iraq” (Iraq Business News, Aug. 5, 2025)
💵 “Hidden Dinars: Why 92% of Iraq’s Cash Never Reaches the Banks”
📌 Key Highlights:
Cash Over Banks: An overwhelming 92% of Iraq's physical currency exists outside the formal banking system. Iraq is operating with one of the most cash-based economies in the world — and this is crippling financial reform.
Deep Mistrust : Years of corruption, instability, and mismanagement have eroded trust in Iraq’s financial institutions. Most Iraqis prefer to stash their money at home — even large sums — rather than deposit it in a bank.
No Financial Footprint: Because most cash never enters the banking system, the Central Bank of Iraq struggles to manage inflation, encourage investment, or track real economic activity. The financial system is blind to most of the money in the country.
Reform Struggles: Despite efforts to modernize and digitize, the government’s push for banking reforms is largely ignored by the population, many of whom associate banks with loss, risk, or bureaucracy.
Obstacles to RV Readiness? Some analysts suggest this “cash culture” poses a serious obstacle to any meaningful revaluation of the Iraqi dinar, since money velocity and liquidity data remain unreliable.
Digital Resistance: Attempts to promote mobile banking and card-based systems have failed to gain traction, especially in rural areas where cash is king and banking services are scarce.
The Government’s Dilemma: Without greater public trust and participation in the banking sector, Iraq’s economy remains fragile, opaque, and difficult to reform — even with oil wealth and foreign investment interest.
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