Iraq's Parliament responds to Al-Sadr, summons financial officials for questioning

2022-02-17 09:37

Shafaq News / On Thursday, the Iraqi Parliament issued a decision to summon the Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi, and the Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghalib, for questioning.

The Parliament's Presidency said this decision comes in response to the directives of the leader of the Sadrist Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Al-Sadr cracked a list of recommendations he believes might contribute to leaching the volatile exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the Iraqi dinar.

The hand-written list shared by the firebrand Shiite cleric included summoning the minister of finance and the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq "Immediately."

He called for halting currency smuggling by force, organizing and centralizing the currency market, and enacting laws that boost the national currency.

The Sadrist leader called for scrutinizing the activity of some banks that belong to "persons controlling the currency like al-Sharq al-Awsat (the Middle East), al-Qabedh, and al-Ansari, and other private banks," and "dealing firmly with the banks affiliated with some political parties controlling the people and the land."

Yesterday, al-Sadr said in a tweet that the Iraqi citizens should not be burdened by the downsides of the dinar devaluation, calling on the Iraqi government to take firm steps to curb the rise of prices.

"Raising the exchange rate of the dollar, regardless of its upsides and downsides, shall not bring the prices of the commodities, particularly the basic ones, higher," al-Sadr tweeted.

Al-Sadr called for holding the traders who tamper with the prices of the goods accountable, "particularly, with the holy month of Ramadan around the corner."

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