In shift away from US dollar, Iraq to allow trade with China in yuan
Some countries in the region are increasingly looking away from the dollar.
The Iraqi Central Bank said on Wednesday that it will conduct trade with China in its currency, the yuan.
“Financing of foreign trade with China will be organized directly using the Chinese yuan,” the bank said in a statement.
The Central Bank specified two options for trading with China in yuan. The first involves strengthening the balances of Iraqi banks that have yuan. The second involves strengthening Iraqi banks’ balances with the Central Bank via the Central Bank’s accounts with Wall Street’s JP Morgan and Singapore’s DBS, according to the statement. This presumably means providing more cash to Iraqi banks, though the Central Bank did not provide more details.
A spokesperson for JP Morgan declined to comment further to Al-Monitor.
