Iraqi Central Bank has less savings after rainy days
Governor tells Parliament $6m in notes were damaged in heavy showers
Iraq’s parliament is expected to launch an investigation to determine how $6 million (Dh22.03m) in local currency stored in public bank coffers was damaged by heavy rain.
Central Bank Governor Ali Allaq appeared in parliament on Monday to answer questions about the case.
“At the end of 2013, the vaults of the Rafidain Bank were flooded because of huge rains, damaging the bills that were stored there,” Mr Allaq said. They were worth about seven billion Iraqi dinars.
Lack of transparency and unreliable governance has been at the heart of Iraq’s woes, made worse by a costly three-year war against ISIS that coincided with a dip in oil prices.
Mr Allaq said the central bank printed new bills to replace the soaked ones but, since the money had not been in circulation, the only real loss was the printing costs.
His comments, however, did not reassure Iraqi politicians who attended the parliamentary session. Several of them requested evidence that the damaged was caused by water.
“The information that was presented to us indicates that the damaged currency is 12 billion Iraqi dinars, not seven billion,” said Ahmad Hama Rashid, a member of the parliament’s finance committee.
Mr Rashid said that Mr Allaq would be required to provide solid evidence to the Cabinet at the next parliamentary session.
Former politican Hanan Al Fatlawi, called on Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to hold Mr Allaq accountable for the loss of funds. “The Central Bank governor and director of Rafidain Bank need to be held accountable for negligence,” Ms Al Fatlawi said on Twitter.
According to parliament, corruption, shell companies and phantom public employees have cost Iraq the equivalent of $228 billion since 2003.
The figure is more than Iraq’s gross domestic product. Iraq is ranked 169th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s corruption perception index, with the highest-scoring state being the most corrupt.