Why People Hold the Dinar and How You Can Use It

If you’ve spent any time researching currency online, I guarantee you’ve stumbled onto articles about the Iraqi Dinar. What’s so special about the Dinar that people continue to talk about and obsess over?

Let’s go through the basics of why people hold onto the Iraqi Dinar and how you can use it. We will go through the basics and history of the Dinar along with the reasons people want to hold it.

Basic History of the Iraqi Dinar

The last several decades have been difficult for the Iraqi people and their economy. Civil strife and military conflict has created great instability. Infrastructure was destroyed and the basic fundamentals of the economy have been put under significan duress. Unstable governments and competing coalitions within the country continue to threaten stability.

But there is hope. The government continues the march to stability. The oil industry is beginning to grow again. Foreign interests including the World Bank are beginning to look to Iraq as future investment opportunity.

With all these elements in play. A currency that has been weak over the last several decades is poised to grow. It is because of this great potential, the resources of Iraq, and the Iraqi people that many are looking to Iraq as a future source of investment.

On November 3rd, The Iraqi General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announced that on the 9th of November 2020, donor countries would visit to support and finance projects in the liberated areas. The United Nations Development Program said that it “carried out hundreds of service and humanitarian projects in the liberated governorates, and are continuing to rehabilitate and implement projects in the liberated governorates.”

The Iraqi General Secretariat referred to “implementing 271 service and humanitarian projects in Salah al-Din governorate and rehabilitating 20,000 residential homes in Anbar Governorate.” The United Nations Development Program also announced the implementation of “1754 service projects in Nineveh Governorate.”

To learn more about the Iraqi Dinar and the history of the currency, see this article on the Dinar for more details.

Reasons To Hold and Use the Iraqi Dinar

There are 3 basic reasons people choose to hold and use the Dinar: collecting, traveling, and investing.

Currency collectors are fascinated by the Dinar because of the wide variety of changes the currency has seen over the years. There are unique features and colors to the currency that make this desirable to collectors to display.

Traveling to Iraq is another reason why people would want to hold the currency. While Iraq may not be a tourist destination for many, businesspeople looking for investment opportunities still need currency when they are in the country. Rather than relying on banks or airport exchanges, they should use a currency broker because of the exchange rates and lower fees.

Investing is the primary reason people hold and use the Iraqi Dinar. Because investing in the Dinar comes with a multitude of questions, let’s go through the basics to understand why someone may consider this option.

Investing in the Iraqi Dinar

What does it mean to “invest” in the Iraqi dinar? Basically, it would be like investing in any currency. You purchase X amount of Iraqi Dinars (IQD) by paying Y amount of US Dollars (USD). Like any investment you expect the prices to rise.

As mentioned earlier in the article, rumors of foreign investment are beginning to trickle into Iraq. This would create more stability and economic growth for the people of Iraq, leading to an increase in value of the Dinar.

Here’s a historical chart of the Dinar’s performance, and will help you understand the reason many see hope in the increase of value.

There are small fluctuations in the value of the Dinar, but it has remained mostly stable since 2016 with small increases of time.

Concerns of the Iraqi Dinar

1.Liquidity

Many worry that while they can buy Dinars, they can’t easily sell them. This is not true. Many currency brokers including US First Exchange can purchase Dinars from investors.

2.Redenomination

It is common for countries with currencies with low value compared to other currencies to redenominate the currency with a new value. This can happen with many currencies and is a risk in investing, but there are no current signals that Iraq is considering redenomination. The currency has stability as you saw from the chart above, and looks to continue to improve its position among global currencies.

3.Inflation

Hyper-inflation destroys the value of hard currency. Over the last year Iraq has seen relatively stable inflation rates from a low -.9% of to a high of +1.3%. This signals stability to currency investors.

Bottom Line

There are several reasons people choose to hold and use the Dinar. If you are considering investing in the Dinar, consider the risks. Like any investment there is uncertainty involved and no investment is guaranteed. This article should give you a base of information to begin considering the Dinar as an investment option.

Should you consider investing or collecting the Iraqi Dinar, we provide both secure buying and selling services.

At US First Exchange, we deal in popular and exotic currencies, including the Iraqi Dinar and Vietnamese Dong. You can order foreign currency online and have your money shipped straight to your door in 24-48 hours. All shipments are fully insured, and we pride ourselves on having the industry’s lowest spreads. Sign up for our exchange rate alerts to track the value of Iraqi Dinar over time and find the best time to buy currencies.

In order to provide the most secure and safe transactions, US First Exchange is registered with the US Treasury as a Money Services Business (view a copy of our registration). In addition to federal regulation, we hold multiple state-specific licenses as a money services business. Where required, we are bonded as well.