US dollar hits 168,000 IQD across Baghdad, Erbil, and Basra exchanges

Iraqi dinars and U.S. dollars. Photo: Al-Ain News Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the Iraqi dinar climbed to 168,000 IQD per $100 across major parallel market hubs on Sunday, October 18, 2026, widening the spread against the official statutory peg established by the Central Bank of Iraq. Parallel wholesale desks across Baghdad, Erbil, and Basra converged at an identical selling rate of 168,000 dinars per $100. In Baghdad, currency exchanges quoted cash buy bids at 167,000 dinars against the 168,000 dinar selling ceiling. In both Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, and the southern commercial hub of Basra, trading desks maintained a narrower buy-sell margin, taking in cash dollars at 167,500 dinars against 168,000 dinars for outgoing customer transactions. The prevailing parallel quotations stand at a noticeable premium above the official benchmark mandated by the Central Bank of Iraq, which anchors the statutory public retail cash price at 1,520 dinars per dollar, or 152,000 dinars per $100. The divergence of 16,000 dinars per $100 underlines sustained liquidity frictions and elevated merchant demand for physical banknotes outside the official trade-finance window.