Central bank sets 2026 budget exchange rate at 1,300 dinars per dollar

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Central Bank announced Thursday that the official exchange rate set for the 2026 federal budget will be 1,300 dinars to the U.S. dollar.

The bank used an official rate of 1,320 dinars per dollar in 2025.

Despite the revised official rate, the parallel market rate remained significantly higher. On Thursday, exchange shops in Baghdad sold $100 for 147,800 dinars and bought it for 147,300. In Erbil, $100 sold for 147,000 and bought for 146,500. In Basra, exchange shops sold $100 for 147,850 and bought it for 147,350.

Parliament has not yet voted on the 2026 federal budget. Lawmakers in late December elected Haibat al-Halbousi as speaker at the start of the new parliamentary term, while negotiations to form the next government remain ongoing.

Prime Minister’s financial adviser Mazhar Mohammed Salih said earlier this month that recent fluctuations in the exchange rate are “temporary” and do not reflect a structural imbalance in Iraq’s economy, as the U.S. dollar has continued to rise against the Iraqi dinar in the parallel market for more than a week.