IMF: Iraq has made progress in transitioning to a new system for financing foreign trade

6/25/2025

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission considered that the Central Bank of Iraq has achieved "significant progress" by transitioning to a new system for financing foreign trade.

A statement issued by the bank quoted the mission as confirming that "the Central Bank of Iraq has made progress in absorbing excess liquidity by increasing the issuance of short-term debt instruments (central bank transfers and Islamic certificates of deposit), adjusting subscription limits for banks in central bank auctions, and improving liquidity forecasting tools and practices."

The statement added, "The mission commended the Central Bank of Iraq's efforts to successfully transition to the new trade finance system," noting that commercial banks now process trade finance transactions entirely through their relationships with correspondent banks.

According to the mission, "the Central Bank of Iraq has made significant progress by transitioning to a new system for financing foreign trade through correspondent banking channels, instead of relying on the daily dollar auction."

According to the statement, the mission indicated that "this development has contributed to enhancing banks' compliance with international transparency requirements, such as OFAC regulations and others, and improving their relationships with global correspondent banks."

The statement added that this step resulted in narrowing the gap between the official dollar exchange rate and its parallel exchange rate, indicating relative success in curbing illegal speculation and reducing currency leakage.

The statement continued, citing the IMF mission, that "the methodology for managing foreign exchange has become more effective than before, especially with the Central Bank of Iraq continuing to implement complementary measures such as requiring traders to submit genuine import invoices and simplifying procedures for obtaining hard currency for legitimate importers."   LINK