SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The State news agency on Sunday reported that Iraq’s foreign currency reserves are now above $80 billion and are expected to hit $90 billion by the end of the year.
The country’s foreign currency reserves are now above $80 billion and are expected to hit $90 billion by the end of 2022, INA cited the deputy governor of the central bank, Ammar Khalaf, as saying.
“The central bank’s gold reserves have climbed 30 tonnes to stand at more than 131 tonnes now,” Khalaf said.
Iraqi central bank on January 19 announced that the total foreign currency reserves increased significantly at the end of 2021 due to the diversified investments and management following monetary policy based on best international practices free from risks
Oil-reach country of Iraq has witnessed a sudden increase in foreign currency reserves since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, soaring oil prices to a record above 130$ per barrel of Brent, almost one year ago the country’s foreign currency reserves were estimated by $64 billion.
The devaluation of Iraqi Dinars vs the U.S. dollar in late 2020 was also a major contributing factor and helped bring the reserves up, according to a governor in the Iraqi central bank.
The Iraqi Central Bank was sat the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar at 1,470 dinars per dollar late in 2020, aiming to help cover the financial deficit which was estimated at 58 trillion dinars ($48.698 billion). Meanwhile, in 2019, the exchange rate was 1,200 dinars per dollar.
