USA Today reports that “anything goes” in the Iraqi “underground” free market, including currency traders with satellite access:
“Street traders were tacitly banned under Saddam. But Alanbaki, among 300 local major currency exchangers who now set the dinar’s daily exchange rate, has about 30 reporting to him. Most official banks remain closed, so Alanbaki and other major currency players essentially act as Iraq’s federal reserve. Using satellite telephones to discuss the economy, political machinations and the latest terrorist attacks on U.S troops, they set the dinar’s rate by ad hoc committee. Daily fluctuations of 40% were common shortly after the war. The dinar has since stabilized, but a whisper of news can still propel its daily rate 20%.”
