Banking Overhaul and New Currency for Iraq (NYT): “In a sweeping effort to revive the devastated Iraqi economy, United States officials announced today that they would replace the Iraqi currency later this year and restructure the central bank to give it new autonomy... Coalition officials, however, emphasized that they had had extensive consultations with Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, the leaders of the two large Kurdish factions in northern Iraq, about details of the rate at which Kurds would be able to exchange their currency. Their exchange rate, the officials said, would be one ‘Swiss dinar’ — the currency used in northern Iraq — for every 150 new dinars. In the rest of the country, the exchange will be on a one-for-one basis. Occupation officials said the sharply different exchange rates did not mean the Kurds would receive a more favorable rate. Instead, they said, the rate reflected the much greater value of the Swiss dinar, which had not been subjected to the same inflation that devalued the dinar issued under Saddam Hussein and used in the rest of the country. Under Mr. Hussein’s absolutist rule, Finance Ministry officials forced the bank essentially to print money. The officials said the contract for printing the notes would probably go to De La Rue, a large British printing company.”
