The Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a Al-Sudani, dismissed this morning, Monday, the Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb Makhaif, from his post, and the Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted a government source as saying, "The Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a Al-Sudani, decided to relieve the Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb Makhaif, from his post at his request." ".
The government source added that the Prime Minister assigned Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq to run the Central Bank by proxy, in a move that economists see as related to the crisis of the decline in the value of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar in parallel markets.
Mustafa Ghaleb Makhaif had warned earlier of the exposure of the Iraqi economy to major and influential shocks (Al-Jazeera Net)
The move to dismiss the governor of the central bank came with a set of decisions launched by the Iraqi prime minister, including the referral of the director of the Iraqi Trade Bank, Salem Jawad Al-Jalabi, to retirement, and the assignment of Bilal Al-Hamdani to run the government bank, which was established after the US invasion of the country in 2003.
The new governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, is one of the political figures, as he previously held many positions previously, including the acting governor of the Central Bank of Iraq and chairman of the board of directors between 2014 and 2020, in addition to chairing the joint anti-corruption council in the country between 2007 and 2014. In addition to other positions.
The dismissal of the central bank governor from his position comes at a time when the Iraqi currency has witnessed a loss of nearly 10% of its value in parallel markets over the past two months, as since last November, the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar has witnessed a significant rise in the parallel (black) markets. ), as it exceeded during the past two days the barrier of 1660 dinars to one dollar, at a time when the Iraqi government sells it through the currency auction at the Central Bank at 1460 dinars to the dollar.
Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq assumed the position of acting governor of the Central Bank of Iraq between 2014 and 2020 (Iraqi press)
The dismissed Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mustafa Ghaleb Makhaif, spoke to Al-Jazeera Net in a private dialogue a few days ago about the efforts of experts in the Central Bank to draw monetary policy by directing the Central Bank's efforts towards achieving financial stability in Iraq within the Central Bank's strategy 2021-2023.
At the time, Mukhaif warned of the exposure of the Iraqi economy to major and influential shocks that impede efforts directed towards achieving growth in the event that quick measures are not taken with the development of forward-looking plans to draw the necessary buffers to cross crises in the future, by using the possible powers and coordinating with other financial and non-financial institutions, commenting, "Show The Iraqi banking sector in 2022 will undergo several changes in its indicators in light of the local and regional economic challenges.