Iraq PM’s adviser denies rumor that rodents destroyed 62 trillion dinars

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s financial adviser, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, on Saturday rejected a widely circulated rumor that 62 trillion Iraqi dinars had been destroyed by rodents, calling the claim baseless and economically implausible.

“Some social media platforms recently circulated unreasonable claims about the destruction of massive amounts of currency, about 62 trillion dinars, due to ‘rats and mice,’” Saleh told the state-run Iraqi News Agency. “This news is completely disconnected from reality and lacks the minimum level of credibility or economic logic.”

He said Iraq’s total currency supply, including circulating and reserve cash, does not exceed 100 trillion dinars. The idea that more than half could be destroyed by environmental or biological factors, he added, is “economically impossible.”

Saleh also noted that roughly 88% of Iraq’s cash supply is held outside the banking system by individuals. That cash, he said, is not stored in a single place where it could be damaged on such a scale.

“The currency is subject to rigorous processes in printing, storage, periodic inspection, and replacement through precise monetary and accounting mechanisms,” he said. “Amounts of this scale are not left unmonitored or unprotected.”

He warned that such rumors are intended to confuse the public and stir unrest, particularly among those unfamiliar with the structure of Iraq’s financial system.

“Such fabricated reports insult people’s intelligence and lack any economic or factual value,” Saleh said. He urged the public not to spread false claims.