Another Gulf State Mulls Dollar Alternatives
The symbols for the Chinese yuan and the dollar is displayed at a currency exchange store in Hong Kong.
Photographer: Xaume Olleros/Bloomberg
Iraq is the latest Middle Eastern state to talk about trade in currencies other than the dollar. That’ll do little to dent the greenback’s dominance in a region with deep financial, energy and political ties with the US, but it’s a subtle shift for non-oil trade.
Baghdad says it plans to pay for private sector imports from China in yuan in order to inject foreign currency into the financial system and help ease pressure on the dinar.