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Iraqis start to replace old Saddam currency
Baghdad, Oct 15: Iraqi banks today began exchanging the country`s old currency, emblazoned with the face of Saddam Hussein, for the new Dinar.
Baghdad, Oct 15: Iraqi banks today began exchanging the country's old currency, emblazoned with the face of Saddam Hussein, for the new Dinar.
Iraqis have until January 15 to exchange their old
notes for the new ones.
The new currency comes in six denominations -- 50, 250, 1,000, 5,000 and 25,000 dinars -- and replaces the old tattered aqua and light purplish Saddam version that has lost almost all their value over more than a decade of international sanctions and 20 years of war.
Top US civil administrator Paul Bremer announced in July that the new bank notes would replace the new Iraqi Dinar, in use since 1991 when UN sanctions imposed on Iraq for invading Kuwait the previous year forced Baghdad to rely on domestic firms to print money.
The currency in use before 1991, known as the Swiss Dinar even though it was printed in Britain, has remained in circulation in northern Kurdish regions that slipped out of Saddam's control following the 1991 Gulf war.
Bureau Report
The new currency comes in six denominations -- 50, 250, 1,000, 5,000 and 25,000 dinars -- and replaces the old tattered aqua and light purplish Saddam version that has lost almost all their value over more than a decade of international sanctions and 20 years of war.
Top US civil administrator Paul Bremer announced in July that the new bank notes would replace the new Iraqi Dinar, in use since 1991 when UN sanctions imposed on Iraq for invading Kuwait the previous year forced Baghdad to rely on domestic firms to print money.
The currency in use before 1991, known as the Swiss Dinar even though it was printed in Britain, has remained in circulation in northern Kurdish regions that slipped out of Saddam's control following the 1991 Gulf war.
Bureau Report