Erbil airport still cannot sell travellers dollars, 14 months after suspension

ERBIL — Erbil International Airport has not resumed selling dollars to travellers at the official rate and is still waiting for Central Bank approval, its director said, denying reports that the service had restarted.

“So far, the process has not resumed, but our efforts are continuing and we are waiting for approval,” Ahmed Hoshyar told 964media. The airport has contacted Baghdad about restarting it and no date has been set. There is no bank or exchange outlet inside the airport giving travellers cash dollars at the official rate, and the service has been suspended since mid-July 2024 on Central Bank instructions.

The allocation is worth having. The official rate is 132,000 dinars per $100 and the dollar was selling in Erbil on Saturday at about 159,450, a gap of nearly 21%, so the $2,000 a traveller may buy each month is worth around 549,000 dinars more on the open market than it costs at the counter.

Under the system the Central Bank introduced in July 2024, travellers register through authorised exchange companies, pay the dinar equivalent at the official rate and collect the cash after completing departure formalities, a mechanism the bank said would ensure dollars reached actual travellers and reduce improper transactions. Rafidain and Rasheed were to operate at Baghdad, Basra and Najaf airports and the Trade Bank of Iraq at those three plus Sulaymaniyah and Erbil. Then-governor Ali al-Alaq said in August 2024 that it had started in Baghdad, Basra and Najaf with preparations under way for Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk.

It runs at airports elsewhere in Iraq. The Central Bank cut the monthly allocation from $3,000 to $2,000 in July as part of changes to manage foreign currency sales and push electronic payments, and has attributed the recent widening of the parallel market gap to speculation and regional conditions.