US dollar eases to 164,000 IQD range across Iraqi parallel exchanges

A currency exchange agent counts US dollars at his company in Iraq’s southern city of Basra. Photo: Hussein Faleh/AFP Baghdad (IraqiNewscom) – Parallel market rates for the U.S. dollar retreated slightly across Iraqi trading floors on Saturday, October 10, 2026, pulling back from earlier highs above 170,000 to settle in the low-to-mid 160,000 range. The downward correction follows days of sharp market adjustments that followed the federal government’s revision of the official benchmark to 152,000 Iraqi dinars per $100 for retail transactions, narrowing the parallel spread against the newly established official baseline. Data showed that exchange counters and trading hubs in Baghdad posted cash selling rates at 164,000 dinars per $100 against purchase bids of 162,000 dinars, registering a drop of several thousand dinars from midweek peaks. In Erbil, the commercial capital of the Kurdistan Region, parallel counters quoted greenbacks at a selling rate of 162,750 dinars per $100 alongside buying bids of 162,000 dinars. In the southern trade center of Basra, trading activity balanced at similar levels, with cash sales quoted at 163,500 dinars per $100 and buying bids settling at 163,000 dinars. The easing across Baghdad, Erbil, and Basra reflects tentative price consolidation as currency traders, wholesale merchants, and financial counters adjust to the new statutory pricing framework. While the initial announcement triggered an immediate liquidity shock across wholesale districts like Shorja, the modest pullback suggests parallel market participants are recalibrating cash demand against the Central Bank of Iraq’s updated sales platform parameters.