Money transfers from Iraq drop by half

AMMAN – Money transfers from Iraq into Jordan have dropped sharply in recent weeks due to fighting between Sunni rebels and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, Alaa Eddine Diraniyeh, president of the Jordanian Exchange Association, said Tuesday. 

Diraniyeh told The Jordan Times over the phone that the drop in cash transfers from Iraq declined by nearly 50 per cent recently due to instability there, describing transfers from Baghdad as an important injection of foreign currency into the Kingdom. 

There are thousands of Iraqi businesspeople who reside in Jordan and they mainly rely on receiving US dollars from Iraq to conduct their businesses, he explained. 

“Businesspeople here are cautiously watching the developments in Iraq,” he said, indicating that the drop in transfers from Iraq did not affect the volumes of dollars available at money changers. 

Diraniyeh pointed out that the decreasing volume of transfers from Iraq was paid off by an increase of remittances coming mainly from the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries.  

Demand for the Jordanian dinar has been picking up over the past weeks by Jordanian expatriates and tourists, according to the money changer. 

“There has been a strong demand for the dinar,” he said, adding that large numbers of expatriates have recently arrived in Jordan to spend summer holidays with their families. 

In remarks to The Jordan Times last week, President of the Jordan Free Zone Investors Association Nabil Rumman said that a large number of Iraqi investors in Jordan had not been receiving money from Iraq because of fighting there, indicating that instability in Iraq has badly hit exports from the free zone to the Iraqi market. 

Exports to the Iraqi market have been halted for weeks due to deteriorating security conditions in the country, he said.

Nearly 70 per cent of the free zone’s exports used to go to Iraq, according to Rumman.