Impacts of US Dollar Exchange Rates on Some Financial and Economic Indicators in Iraq - An Analytical Study for the period 2009-2015.

Abstract

The study discusses the policy of the Central Bank of Iraq in the management of the exchange rate and its impact on some financial and economic indicators, as an analytical study for the period 2009-2015. The researcher's motivation to address this issue is the importance of exchange rates in the study and analysis of the economy of any country. The research problem can be framed by the following question: Do the US dollar exchange rates affect economic and financial indicators in Iraq by the Central Bank of Iraq?The study is based on the main hypothesis that fluctuations in the exchange rate of the US dollar affect some of the financial and economic indicators (for cash reserve, GDP, budget allocations). The study reached several conclusions, the most important of which is the widening gap between the selling prices of the dollar in the parallel markets compared to the nominal prices at the Central Bank auction, which allowed the private banks and exchange companies dealing with the Central Bank to achieve very large profits unjustified and not commensurate with the risk of buying the dollar from Central Bank and sell it to the public. The research came out with several recommendations, the most important of which is the need to gradually abandon the adoption of the auction strategy for the foreign currency (the dollar), because it costs the state huge amounts of hard currency annually.