The Iraqi interior ministry banned people from dealing in US dollars in the latest move by authorities to control a fluctuating black market exchange rate, Tasnim reports.
The surprise announcement on Sunday reflects an attempt to close the gap between the official exchange rate and that on the black market, which has fueled high prices and caused anger.
“The dinar is the national currency in Iraq,” the ministry said.
It said dealing in other currencies “is a violation that is punishable by law” and threatened to “hold accountable anyone who attempts to undermine the Iraqi dinar and the economy”.
The Interior Ministry's Anti-organized Crime Directorate has sent its forces to markets across Baghdad and other cities, asking traders to sign a pledge to sell goods only in dinar, Brig Gen Hussein Al Tamimi told The National.
“The widespread campaign aims at protecting the dinar,” said Al Tamimi, who heads the directorate's operations department.
He stated representatives from the Central Bank of Iraq and the Interior Ministry's Intelligence Department joined the patrols.
Those who breach the pledge will face a fine of one million Iraqi dinars (around $680), he added.
Market dealings in the dollar went underground on Monday and exchange offices, fearing arrest by undercover agents, were selling dollars only to trusted clients, at the black market rate.
