Baghdad, 08 May 2008 (Voices of Iraq)
Demand for the dollar went down further in the Iraqi Central Bank's auction on Wednesday, reaching $54.635 million compared to $127.170 million on Tuesday.
"The demand hit $5.705 million in cash and $48.930 million in money transfers outside the country, all covered by the bank at a stable exchange rate of 1,201 Iraqi dinars per dollar, same as yesterday," according to the central bank's daily bulletin which was received by Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq - (VOI).
None of the 12 banks that participated in the auction offered to sell dollars.
In an exclusive statement to VOI, Ali al-Yasseri, a trader, said that while offers to sell the dollar disappeared for the second time this week, the overall demand for the dollar was significantly below average. Al-Yasseri noted that he expects a rise in the demand on Thursday, on which traders pay their bills.
The Iraqi Central Bank runs a daily auction from Sunday to Thursday.