History
After World War I, Iraq's monetary system was administered by the British Mandate of Mesopotamia until 1931, when the Iraq Currency Board was established to issue and maintain the new Iraqi dinar. In 1949, the currency board was replaced by the National Bank of Iraq, which had been founded two years before. The National Bank of Iraq became the Central Bank of Iraq in 1956.
The Central Bank of Iraq was established as Iraq's independent central bank by Central Bank of Iraq Law 2004 with authorised capital of 100 billion dinars. According to the law, 100% of the bank's capital stock shall be held by the State and is not transferable.
The Constitution of Iraq states that the central bank is a financially and administratively independent institution, responsible before the Council of Representatives of Iraq. According to the Constitution, the Federal government of Iraq has the "exclusive authority" of "establishing and administering a central bank".
On January 25, 2011 the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq ruled that the Central Bank of Iraq should be under supervision of the Council of Ministers of Iraq. Then Central Bank chief Sinan Al Shabibi warned that the ruling threatens the independence of the institution.
Al-Shabibi was forced out in October 2012 after a corruption inquiry opened by lawmakers supposedly found violations in dollar sales. Arrest warrants were issued for Al-Shabibi along with 15 other bank officials while abroad attending an IMF/World Bank annual meeting. These arrest warrants were described as "immature" by head of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Baha Al-Araji due to the manner and speed at which they were issued.
This affair is also viewed by several political party leaders and prominent economists as another indirect move by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to consolidate his powers.
Currently the interim Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq is Abdel Basset Turki, head of the state-spending watchdog the Board of Supreme Audit.
Read more about this topic: Central Bank Of Iraq
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