New Iraqi currency
The New Iraqi currency, according to GlobalSecurity.org, L. Paul Bremer, the "administrator for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, ... outlined in an address to the Iraqi people 07 July 2003 the key spending priorities for the Iraqi national budget over the coming six months. These included commitments to improve the water, electrical, public health and telecommunications systems. ... Bremer announced that the Coalition would print and distribute new banknotes for Iraq."
"Bremer stated that a new currency had not been designed by the United States as only a sovereign Iraqi government could take that decision. The new currency would not depict Saddam Hussein. The design for the new currency ... was taken from the designs of the 'Swiss' dinar, though the new notes will have different colors and denominations. The new dinars will be printed in a full range of denominations: in 50s; 250s; 1,000s; 5,000s; 10,000s; and 25,000s. The new banknotes will be much better protected against counterfeiting, they will be much more durable and suffer less 'wear and tear'.
"The new currency would be made available to the Iraqi people on 15 October 2003. They will replace the existing Iraqi 'print' dinars at parity: one new Iraqi dinar will be worth the same as one 'print' dinar. The new dinar will replace the 'Swiss' dinar at the rate of 150 new dinars to one Swiss dinar. These different rates reflect the different prices, expressed in local currency, in different parts of the country."
The new Iraqi dinar was put into circulation on October 15, 2003, with over 230 banks open for the exchange. The three-month exchange process began the same day and the "exchange period" will run through January 15, 2004, with a "one-for-one exchange for the old dinar versus the new dinar." This is Iraq's first new national currency in the last 15-plus years. The Iraqi Central Bank took "the lead on the exchange program."[1][2]
You can learn more regarding the Iraqi Dinar from an investors viewpoint at New Iraqi Dinar. Note that this website is an advertisement and is cited here only for its information value.
Related SourceWatch Resources
External links
- Stephen G. Cecchetti, How To Establish a Credible Iraqi Central Bank, Brandeis University, June 9, 2003.
- CPA Briefs on Iraqi Currency Exchange, October 15, 2003.
