Iraq Central Bank Assets at Risk?

Posted on 25 January 2011. Tags: CBI, Central Bank


Following the Supreme Court decision to place several independent bodies under the control of the Iraqi cabinet, rather than the parliament, a legal expert has said that the Central Bank of Iraq is an independent body that cannot be linked to the Cabinet.

According to the report from AKnews, the Central Bank of Iraq warned that its foreign assets would be confiscated by Iraq’s creditors if it was answerable to the government instead of the parliament.

Legal expert, Hassan Shaaban, the General Coordinator of Human Rights and Democracy Assembly in Iraq, told the news agency that the Central Bank of Iraq should not be under the supervision of the Council of Ministers because it is a board that should be managed professionally, independently and without any link to the government.

Contrary to other reports, Shaaban believes that the Central Bank has the right to object and appeal.

The central bank said in a statement issued today that its independence under Iraqi law was still the only thing that guaranteed that its financial resources abroad would not to be confiscated by the country’s international creditors.

(Source: AKnews)