Iraq currency

History of the currency of Iraq

Iraq continued to use Ottoman banknotes for four centuries (1534-1920). Until the British occupation, which replaced it with the Indian currency represented by the Anna and the metallic Rupee, issued in 1914, which had the image of the British King George V engraved , to be the only currency in circulation, both paper and metal.

In 1932 after the end of the British mandate over Iraq. The Iraqi dinar was issued, which was replaced by the Indian rupee at the rate of 1 dinar = 13 rupees ⅓.

After the issuance of the Iraqi dinar in 1932, it was linked to the sterling pound until 1959, when the Central Bank of Iraq decided to diversify the currency cover and increase the percentage of gold reserves, so the dinar became an independent currency. And decided to link it to the US dollar without changing its value at the rate of 1 dinar = 2.8 dollars. In 1971, the United States took a decision to devalue its currency by 7.9%, and in 1973 it decreased by 10%. The Iraqis, who were pegging their currency to the dollar, did not follow this devaluation, which made the value of the dinar rise against the exchange rate of the US dollar, to become $3.3778. After that, the value of the Iraqi currency decreased by 5%, so that the value of the dinar in US dollars became $3.2169, which was the price that remained in circulation until the second Gulf War in 1991. Although the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar on the black market in late 1989 was Iraqi dinars per dollar.