Ross: The IQD is Well on its Way
Ross: The IQD is Well on its Way
8-7-2026
No one is talking about how big this actually is.
CBI is actively working to bring Apple, Google, and Meta into Iraq under proper licensing and payment regulation.
Those companies don’t take cash.
They don’t take .00076 dinars
So how exactly are Iraqi citizens supposed to participate in the modern digital economy?
The rails have to work.
IQD has to work.
This meeting is about more than just “regulation.”
AnnaMarieF:CBI: The Central Bank Governor discusses with the President of the Media and Communications Authority the regulation of digital payments. His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mr. Nizar Nasser Hussein, met with the Chairman of the Executive Body of the Media and Communications Commission, Mr. Baligh Abu Kalal, to discuss mechanisms for enhancing joint cooperation in regulating digital payment services and developing the legislative and regulatory environment for the digital economy in Iraq.
Iraq is still heavily cash-based overall.
Full, clean integration of these platforms’ payment rails (Apple Pay proper, Google Pay as a real wallet, Meta payments, smooth international settlement) is not fully there yet.
That is literally what today’s meeting is about — regulating and licensing them so their systems can operate properly inside Iraq.
Cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad is absolutely critical to the HCL and consequentially the revaluation of IQD so be grateful for these headlines that are lacking even the slightest signs of confrontation.
AnnaMarieF:The Prime Minister assures the President of the Kurdistan Region of the government's commitment to addressing all pending files in accordance with the constitution and the law, in a manner that preserves Iraq's unity and sovereignty and strengthens national partnership.
Iraq has two problems:
1. Managing the liquidity emergency
2. Locking in a hard deadline on non-state arms
This is the exact environment where CBI/government pressure for rate realism, digital rails, or reserve management decisions tends to accelerate.
Salary delays create political urgency, the Sept 30 arms deadline creates a sovereignty deadline.
Both point toward the same requirement: a more coherent, investable Iraqi state that can actually collect and deploy its own resources.
IQD is a reflection of Iraq’s progress in saving itself.
Your pay day is when Iraq overcomes its challenges and finally prospers.
What I find fascinating about the lightning-speed progress toward the revaluation of IQD right now is that the moment President Trump “returned to office” in 2024 the CBI launched major banking sector reform initiatives that are now peaking in 2026 — right on schedule, at the convergence of the Iran War + crypto laws/regulation advancing.
No one can deny the “coincidence” of Iraq getting its act together all of a sudden.
Banking cleanup. Restricted banks getting cleared. Cashless mandate live. Directed lending expanding. Digital rails advancing.
Iranian influence being removed.
Crypto clarity advancing.
All of it accelerated after Trump returned and this was well before Al-Zaidi ignited a blitzkrieg of progress in Iraq.
Everything is moving on all fronts at once and no one realizes how much actually kick started behind the scenes the moment Nov 2024 struck.
Reset Intelligence:Scott B is doing the rounds again today. Wall Street now calls his playbook a 2nd Bretton Woods, and Iraq is coming off the punishment list piece by piece. Airline delisted. Hormuz route mapped. And the CBI building the licensing to put Apple and Google inside Iraq's payment rails. Nobody builds rails like that for a currency meant to stay where it is. As @Ross_ptm would say, "IQD hopium is justified right now." The man rebuilding the global monetary order is clearing Iraq's lane into it. Ep 66 connects the dots
Watch on X: https://twitter.com/i/status/2085329971963449523
And what’s even more interesting is the fact that Iraq has made so much progress in such a short time “all of a sudden” meanwhile they’re under the massive pressure of a liquidity crisis due to the process of removing Iranian influence.
I refuse to believe any of it is left to chance and that a plan was not laid out well in advance by the US Treasury to guide Iraq through this economic rebirth.
IQD is well on its way and no one can deny the ever increasing hype of hopium infused headlines bombing us investors to the point where you need MASSIVE news just to get excited right now.
Massive news is happening on an almost daily and weekly basis. Don’t take it for granted.
Security solidification with the Gulf is the baseline headline.
The real signal is investment deals between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
That’s what makes Al-Zaidi’s visit actually fruitful — a stepping stone for IQD.
The Iran War proved why IQD never could have revalued without Iraq first boosting non-oil revenues.
The Iraqi Dinar should reflect Iraq’s true wealth of resources… but what happens when they can’t sell the oil?
Imagine if the dinar had revalued before the war.
How do you defend a stronger currency when you’re still 90%+ dependent on oil revenues that just got crippled?
Now they’re in a pure sink-or-swim position.
The tools they’re reaching for say everything: tax reforms, expanding ASYCUDA customs automation at the borders to choke smuggling and leakage, selling confiscated properties, and recovering stolen public funds held abroad.
That last one hits especially clean. Recovering the stolen money brings fresh revenue into the budget and stops the ongoing bleed. But the deeper win is that the same corruption being dismantled was the Iranian influence that had been rotting Iraq’s economy from the inside. As the war continues, every recovery is also cutting those channels out.
All by design.
Funny how the Strait of Hormuz turned into the exact pressure that forced this acceleration.
No other country is about to see a greater economic makeover as the end result.
Channel8English: Iraq's budget deficit has expanded to between 70 trillion and 80 trillion Iraqi dinars, driven by lower oil prices and a sharp decline in crude export revenues, prompting the government to suspend hundreds of development projects and accelerate measures to increase non-oil income. Read more:https://channel8.com/english/news/63094
Goran is not some random Twitter account. He speaks for the actual traders in one of the main Kurdistan currency markets. When he talks, the parallel market listens.
The dinar can strengthen meaningfully if two conditions line up:
1. Political conditions inside Iraq stabilize
2. Tension around critical trade routes (specifically the Strait of Hormuz) eases
His specific call: the parallel rate could move to 142,000–147,000 IQD per $100.
Official CBI rate remains in the low 1,300s per dollar (roughly 130–132k per $100). The gap is still wide, but a sustained move into the mid-140s would be a clear narrowing.
Channel8English: Slemani Market Spokesperson Jabar Goran Predicts Iraqi Dinar Strengthening Speaking to Channel8, Jabar Goran, spokesperson for the Slemani currency market, stated that the Iraqi dinar could strengthen against the US dollar if political conditions in Iraq stabilize and tension surrounding vital trade routes, such as the Strait of Hormuz, eases. Key Highlights: Economic Impact: Political stability in Iraq and uninterrupted maritime trade are crucial drivers for strengthening the local currency.
Al-Zaidi is acting like a PM who intends to keep the machine running and force the political system to close the gaps rather than wait indefinitely, removing the risk of the incomplete structure becoming an excuse for drift.
The trajectory is toward completion of the cabinet rather than prolonged stagnation.
Discomfort is the key to achieving growth in life.
Iraq is VERY uncomfortable right now.
The liquidity situation is actually quite dire.
The pressure building, the clock ticking, this is how the reforms will get pushed across the finish line.
Surviving the aftermath of the Iran War will set the stage for a prosperous Iraq and consequentially the revaluation of IQD.
Gas is flowing from a major KRG field into the federal grid.
Great.
But the operators went around the KRG — the actual contracting party — and unilaterally re-routed volumes without approval.
This is exactly the contractual mess the Hydrocarbon Law is supposed to fix.
A face-saving deal that respects the existing contract while keeping the gas flowing would be bullish for IQD.
It forces HCL as the permanent solution… and HCL requires the new rate.
Read full post here: https://dinarchronicles.com/2026/08/07/ross-the-iqd-is-well-on-its-way/