An employee of a currency exchange shop shows a stack of Iraqi dinars in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar governorate. Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq intends to remove three zeros from its currency to modernize financial transactions, reduce physical cash circulation, and return stockpiled funds to the official banking system.
Under the suggestion, a 25,000-Iraqi dinar note would become 25 Iraqi dinars, but the currency’s purchasing power and true financial value would stay unaffected.
According to Jamal Kocher, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament’s finance committee, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has asked for the removal of zeros from invoices.
Kocher told The New Region that if the plan is implemented, 1,000 Iraqi dinars would be converted to one dinar, while 25,000 dinars would be equivalent to 25 dinars.
Earlier in August, Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad acknowledged the plan to eliminate the zeros and modify the currency.
The redenomination strategy aims to bring undeclared cash, estimated to be between 8 and 10 trillion Iraqi dinars that are currently held outside banks, back into official channels. This initiative seeks to combat crime, corruption, and money laundering.
According to the idea, everyday prices, incomes, and savings will alter correspondingly, resulting in a direct mathematical shift rather than a change in actual wealth.
Iraq has sought printing partners in the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as its traditional suppliers in France and Germany, to create an estimated 7.5 billion new banknotes.
While government officials such as the Communications Minister and Finance Committee members have emphasized the importance of an official implementation date, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has yet to present a formal draft bill to parliament.