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The Central Bank of Iraq (Arabic: البنك المركزي العراقي‎) is the central bank of Iraq.

History

The Central Bank of Iraq was established as Iraq's central bank by Central Bank of Iraq Law 2004 with authorised capital of 100 billion dinars.^[1] The current Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq is Sinan Al Shabibi.

Architecture

The bank headquarters were designed by Danish architects Dissing+Weitling And completed in 1985. It is a cubical building constructed of reinforced concrete clad in marble. It has few exterior openings, and is instead organised around an inner courtyard which cuts through the heart of the structure and rises to a height of 40m. The courtyard is surrounded on all sides by offices separated by an interior glass curtain wall.^[2]

Central Bank of Iraq, designed by Dissing+Weitling, Baghdad

In August 2010, architect Zaha Hadid was appointed to design new headquarters for the Central Bank in Baghdad. Baghdad-born Zaha Hadid, was approached by the Iraqi authorities earlier that year; initial talks about the project were held in Istanbul on August 14, 2010 in the presence of Central Bank Governor Sinan Al-Shabibi.

On february 2nd 2012 Zaha Hadid joined Dr Sinan Al Shabibi at a ceremony in London to sign the agreement between the Central Bank of Iraq and Zaha Hadid Architects for the design stages of the new CBI Headquarters building.

Objectives

As of at least March 28, 2011, the official web site of the CBI states "the primary objectives of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) are to ensure domestic price stability and to foster a stable competitive market-based financial system. The CBI shall also promote sustainable growth, employment and prosperity in Iraq.". The CBI web site further states that the functions of the CBI in addition to the primary objectives mentioned above include:

To implement the monetary policy and the exchange rate policy for Iraq.
To hold gold and manage the state reserves of gold.
To issue and manage the Iraq currency.
To establish, oversee, and promote a sound and efficient payment system.
To issue licenses or permits to banks and to regulate and supervise banks as further specified by the Banking Law.
To carry out any related ancillary tasks or transactions within the framework of Iraqi law.

The objectives of the Central Bank of the Iraq are as follows:

maintaining inflation stability
implementing monetary policy (including exchange rate policies)
managing the state's reserves
issuing and managing the Iraqi dinar
regulating private banks.

As of December 2009, the bank reported total assets valued at over 57 trillion dinars.^[3] The bank’s head office is located in Baghdad with four branches in Basrah, Mosul, Sulaimaniyah and Erbil. However, currently the bank does not control the financial and administrative affairs of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah branches, as these branches are technically reporting to the headquarter in Baghdad and for all other issues they are reporting to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and they are financed by KRG.

As of July 2010 steps and measures have taken place in order to integrate these branches with the headquarter in Baghdad.

Foreign exchange reserves have increased to nearly US$58 billion (as of september 2011) due to a rise in oil revenues, indicating the improved ability since 2003 to deal with the repayement of foreign debt, the currency stabilization, and the coverage of average monthly imports.

The largest bank robbery in history

In March 2003, on several occasions beginning on March 18, the day before the United States began bombing Baghdad, nearly US$1 billion was stolen from the Central Bank of Iraq. This is considered the largest bank heist in history.^[4]

In March 2003, a hand-written note surfaced, signed by Saddam Hussein, ordering $920 million to be withdrawn and given to his son Qusay. Bank officials state that Qusay and another unidentified man oversaw the cash, boxes of $100 bills, being loaded into trucks during a five hour operation.^[5] Qusay was later killed by the U.S. military in a battle.^[6]

References

^ http://www.cbi.iq/documents/CBILAW-EN_f.pdf
^ "Central Bank of Iraq". Archnet. http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=838. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
^ http://www.cbi.iq/index.php?pid=FinancialStatements
^ [1]
^ Papers show Saddam snatched $1bn from bank a day before invasion
^ The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31549-2003Jul22?language=printer.

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Iraq topics

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Central banks

Global

Global	Bank for International Settlements Basel Committee on Banking Supervision Financial Stability Board

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Africa	Bank of Central African States Central Bank of West African States Bank of Algeria Central Bank of Angola Bank of Botswana Bank of the Republic of Burundi Bank of Cape Verde Central Bank of the Comoros Central Bank of the Congo Central Bank of Djibouti Central Bank of Egypt Bank of Eritrea National Bank of Ethiopia Central Bank of The Gambia Bank of Ghana Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea Central Bank of Kenya Central Bank of Lesotho Central Bank of Liberia Central Bank of Libya Reserve Bank of Malawi Bank of Mauritius Bank Al-Maghrib Bank of Namibia Central Bank of Nigeria Bank of Somaliland South African Reserve Bank Bank of South Sudan Bank of Sudan Central Bank of Swaziland Bank of Tanzania Central Bank of Tunisia Bank of Uganda Bank of Zambia Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

Americas	Central Bank of Argentina Central Bank of Aruba Central Bank of The Bahamas Central Bank of Barbados Central Bank of Brazil Bank of Canada Central Bank of Chile Bank of the Republic (Colombia) Central Bank of Cuba Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Bank of the Republic of Haiti Central Bank of Honduras Bank of Jamaica Bank of Mexico Central Bank of Nicaragua Central Reserve Bank of Peru Central Bank of Suriname Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Federal Reserve System (United States) Central Bank of Venezuela

Asia	Da Afghanistan Bank Central Bank of Bahrain Bangladesh Bank Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Brunei Currency and Monetary Board National Bank of Cambodia People's Bank of China Hong Kong Monetary Authority Reserve Bank of India Bank Indonesia Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran Central Bank of Iraq Bank of Israel Bank of Japan Central Bank of Jordan National Bank of Kazakhstan National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic Bank of Korea Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Central Bank of Kuwait Banque du Liban Monetary Authority of Macao Bank Negara Malaysia Maldives Monetary Authority Bank of Mongolia Central Bank of Myanmar Nepal Rastra Bank Central Bank of Oman State Bank of Pakistan Palestine Monetary Authority Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Qatar Central Bank Monetary Authority of Singapore Central Bank of Sri Lanka Central Bank of Syria Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Bank of Thailand Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates Central Bank of Uzbekistan State Bank of Vietnam

Europe	European Central Bank (Eurosystem) National Bank of the Republic of Abkhazia Bank of Albania Central Bank of Armenia Central Bank of Azerbaijan National Bank of the Republic of Belarus Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgarian National Bank Croatian National Bank Czech National Bank Danmarks Nationalbank Bank of England Bank of Estonia National Bank of Georgia Hungarian National Bank Central Bank of Iceland Central Bank of Kosovo National Bank of Latvia Bank of Lithuania National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia National Bank of Moldova Central Bank of Montenegro Norges Bank Central Bank of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus National Bank of Poland National Bank of Romania Central Bank of Russia National Bank of Serbia Sveriges Riksbank Swiss National Bank Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey National Bank of Ukraine

Oceania	Reserve Bank of Australia Reserve Bank of Fiji Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bank of Papua New Guinea Central Bank of Samoa Central Bank of Solomon Islands National Reserve Bank of Tonga

Policies and implementation

Policies	Capital requirement Contractionary monetary policy Expansionary monetary policy

Implementation	Capital control Discount rate Interest rates Money creation Open market operations Sovereign wealth fund

Bretton Woods system

International Monetary Fund World Bank Group International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes International Development Association International Finance Corporation Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

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List of central banks Central banks and currencies of Africa Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean Central banks and currencies of Central America and South America

Names in italics indicate non-sovereign (dependent) territories, former countries, or states with limited recognition

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The largest bank robbery in history

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