The Central Bank of Iraq Met with US Treasury and US Federal Reserve - Here's What Happened
In Dubai, the delegation of the Central Bank of Iraq met with the US Federal Reserve and US Treasury Department delegations on Thursday.
The bank's media office said the delegation of the Central Bank of Iraq had concluded its meetings with the US Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department.
Representatives of the US Federal Reserve Bank and US Treasury appreciated the efforts made by the Central Bank of Iraq in 2023 to achieve compliance with Iraqi banking regulations.
According to the statement, the meetings led to various agreements regarding the Central Bank of Iraq's efforts to support Iraqi banks in establishing relationships with correspondent banks. This aligns with the bank's plan to gradually decrease reliance on the electronic platform, which will be phased out next year and only used for financial transfer registration purposes for monitoring, auditing, and analysis. (This is the first we are hearing about the decision to gradually decrease reliance on the electronic platform)
"The Central Bank of Iraq is determined to support Iraqi banks, enhance their capabilities, and prepare them to work in accordance with international standards," said the governor in the statement.
"It was agreed and approved by the above authorities to meet the requests of the Central Bank of Iraq for cash shipments in 2024, and the meetings resulted in a number of understandings that aim to improve the capacity of Iraqi banks and their compliance with international standards."
Several agreements were signed to support the CBI's policies, focusing on helping Iraqi banks establish relationships with correspondent banks and gradually enhancing pre-funding of their accounts.
The statement clarifies that this aligns with the Central Bank of Iraq's previously announced plan to gradually reduce reliance on the electronic platform, aiming to discontinue its use during the coming year and restrict its use to monitoring, auditing, and analysis of financial transfers only.
In the statement, Ali Al-Alaq, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, emphasized the Central Bank's commitment to supporting Iraqi banks, enhancing their capacity, and aligning them with international best practices.
The aforementioned entities agreed to fulfill the Central Bank of Iraq's requests for cash shipments in 2024, according to the statement.
Editor's Note: We know that a lot more was discussed, however, the entire agenda has not yet been made public. We think that this announcement that the CBI will continue to offer the USD in transactions until the end of 2024 is a result of this meeting.
