Scrapping the "Saddam" dinar and introducing a new "Swiss" dinar may be the best solution to Iraq's currency question in the short-term, though the country's interim authority must decide for itself, a US official said on Tuesday.
"It's what they decide to do; they may decide replacing the currency with a new Swiss dinar might be a solution for the short-term," the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
"In some ways, they are already making their decision on the ground, and it is clear that they will not want Saddam Hussein on their currency," he said.
There are three currencies in circulation in Iraq. The Saddam dinar, which bears a picture of Saddam, was changing hands at about 2,700 to the US dollar on Sunday.
The more stable "Swiss dinar," so called because it was printed in Switzerland, is an older currency that was in use all over Iraq as the official currency before President Saddam Hussein's regime. It is now in use in the northern part of the country.
Swiss dinars are old and tattered and no longer in print, so there are not enough to go around. New ones would have to be printed, the official said, and the old ones could be exchanged.
The Swiss dinar, not the Saddam dinar, is displayed in a case at the IMF, where the 184 countries that are members of that institution show their currencies.
"They may just want to stay with it. It's a perfectly fine currency," the US official said.
If Iraq chose to do so, its new currency could have a temporary fixed rate and Iraqis could be given a period of time to swap their old Saddam and Swiss notes for the new ones, the official said.
US dollars are also in circulation, but the official said it is unlikely Iraq would choose to have the US dollar as its currency.
Dollars were also in circulation in Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban regime; but the country, with advice from the international community, chose to have its own new currency.
"If you're asking if we're going to encourage them to dollarize, the answer is no," the official said.
"I don't think the Iraqis will make that decision. It would make sense, but that would stink of imperialism," the official said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique