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New Iraqi Currency Makes Official Debut
American Forces Press Service ^ | Jan. 15, 2004 | By Gerry J. Gilmore

Posted on 01/15/2004 10:55:15 AM PST by Calpernia

Billions of dollars worth of new, hard-to- counterfeit Iraqi dinar bank notes are now officially in circulation throughout the country, the Coalition Provisional Authority reported today.

The new money became the official currency of Iraq Jan. 15 after a three-month exchange period that also has involved the destruction of tons of Saddam Hussein-era notes, according to a joint CPA-Central Bank of Iraq news release.

"The new dinar is a real improvement over the old," Ahmed Salman Jaburi, deputy governor of Iraq's Central Bank, asserted in the news release.

Because the new money has security features that make it hard to counterfeit, it has the Iraqi public's confidence, he said. The new money "will provide a firm foundation" for Iraq's economic future, Juburi noted in the release.

The updated currency, the release said, jettisons the image of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein in favor of depictions of important Iraqi scientific contributions, Iraqi history, landscapes and economic life.

Jaburi praised the combined efforts of Central Bank managers and staff, coalition planners, economists, and Iraqi and coalition security forces in designing, printing and distributing the new money.

Shipments of the new Iraqi currency began arriving in Baghdad Sept. 17, and exchange of the new currency for old began Oct. 15. The value of Iraq's money, the release noted, has gone up by 25 percent since then.

A fleet of small aircraft delivered the new money to regional banking centers, and Iraqi armored vans and large trucks effected delivery of the cash to outlying bank branches.

Despite a number of insurgent attacks on convoys delivering new currency and picking up old notes, no money was lost, according to the news release.

Thousands of Iraqi tellers at 250 bank branches across Iraq worked overtime to make the currency exchange happen, the release said.

Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III, the Coalition Provisional Authority's administrator, said the currency exchange marks an important step in Iraq's post-Saddam reconstruction effort.

"Rebuilding Iraq's ruined economy is a key priority for the coalition – a new currency to replace the discredited old one was a necessary early move," Bremer noted in the release.

"With the new dinar now wholly in place, a line has been drawn under Iraq's recent economic past, and the focus shifted to its economic future," Bremer concluded.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: banknotes; coalition; cpa; currency; debaathification; dinars; gnfi; iraq; iraqidinar; iraqieconomy; progress; rebuildingiraq

1 posted on 01/15/2004 10:55:16 AM PST by Calpernia
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To: Calpernia

2 posted on 01/15/2004 10:56:35 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim (Death before dhimmi.)
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To: MJY1288; Calpernia; Grampa Dave; anniegetyourgun; Ernest_at_the_Beach; BOBTHENAILER; ...
Pro Military, Pro Coalition, Pro de-Baathification News!

Billions of dollars worth of new, hard-to- counterfeit Iraqi dinar bank notes are now officially in circulation throughout the country, the Coalition Provisional Authority reported today.


3 posted on 01/15/2004 10:56:55 AM PST by Calpernia (Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does.)
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To: Calpernia

4 posted on 01/15/2004 10:57:07 AM PST by smith288 (Secret member of the VRWC elite forces)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
bah! You beat me!
5 posted on 01/15/2004 10:57:20 AM PST by smith288 (Secret member of the VRWC elite forces)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
Cute one Tijeras.
6 posted on 01/15/2004 10:57:48 AM PST by Calpernia (Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does.)
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To: smith288
Cute one to you too Smith. I've been sandwiched.
7 posted on 01/15/2004 10:58:16 AM PST by Calpernia (Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does.)
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To: smith288
There's fast... and there's Slimfast. :)
8 posted on 01/15/2004 11:02:20 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim (Death before dhimmi.)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
Yow!
9 posted on 01/15/2004 11:03:57 AM PST by null and void (All things are miraculous to the unobservant.)
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To: Calpernia
From the BBC

Iraqi dinar reaches post-war high

The dinar's appreciation has been spurred by speculation The value of the Iraqi dinar has reached post-war highs, amid a wave of new confidence in the Iraqi economy. The currency has doubled in strength against the dollar since Saddam Hussein was overthrown last year.

Analysts attribute its rise to hopes of a surge of US funds into the country to finance reconstruction projects and speculators hoping to make quick gains.

It comes as the old dinar bearing Saddam Hussein's face ceased to be legal tender on Thursday.

The dinar has risen about a third in value against the dollar since new banknotes began to circulate last October.

One US dollar bought around 1,000 dinars in Baghdad on Wednesday, compared with more than 2,000 at the time of Saddam Hussein's overthrow.

During the war, the dinar topped 3,500 to the dollar.

Smuggling

The BBC's Mark Gregory says one factor in the change has been the gradual pick-up of the Iraqi economy after the devastation of the war.

There are, he says, simply more transactions taking place, which supports the value of the currency.

Large amounts of the new currency have been smuggled out of Iraq into neighbouring countries by speculators hoping to make a profit.

Smuggling has contributed to a shortage of new banknotes and scarcity has pushed up their value.

But Iraqi Central Bank Governor Sinan Shibibi said the dinar's strength was artificial.

"People have bright prospects for the Iraqi economy... It is now a trustworthy currency, but [the rise in value] is not justified because it's a big jump, you really want something smooth."
10 posted on 01/15/2004 11:04:26 AM PST by BJClinton
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To: BJClinton
...scarcity has pushed up their value...

Cool. So the Iraqi money sent to me by the adopted soldier in Iraq has increased in value. It's actually quite beautiful artwork on the money.

11 posted on 01/15/2004 11:47:43 AM PST by BushisTheMan
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To: smith288
Good post, both of you.
12 posted on 01/15/2004 11:56:02 AM PST by My2Cents ("Well....there you go again.")
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To: Tijeras_Slim
The best part is the Ronald McDonald watermark on the left.
13 posted on 01/15/2004 12:01:41 PM PST by Yardstick
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To: Calpernia
New Iraqi Currency Makes Official Debut ~ Bump!
14 posted on 01/15/2004 12:36:54 PM PST by blackie
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To: BushisTheMan
Is it the old Saddam Dinar or the new one?
15 posted on 01/15/2004 12:47:37 PM PST by BJClinton
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To: BJClinton
The new ones....
16 posted on 01/15/2004 2:06:04 PM PST by BushisTheMan
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To: Calpernia
Bump!
17 posted on 01/16/2004 1:39:23 AM PST by windchime (Podesta about Bush: "He's got four years to try to undo all the stuff we've done." (TIME-1/22/01))
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