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Iraq prohibits 8 banks from using US dollar in transactions
Days following a visit by a senior US Treasury official, Iraq barred eight local commercial banks from carrying out transactions in US dollars, reducing fraud, money laundering, and other illicit uses of US cash. The banks are prohibited from participating in the daily US dollar auction held by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), which is the primary source of hard currency for Iraq and the focus of an American campaign against the smuggling of money into Iran, according to Reuters. Iraq trusts that Washington will continue to provide access to oil earnings and finances, given that Iraq has reserves worth over $100 ... (full story)