Since 7 October 2026 the official dinar rate moved from 1,320 to 1,520 per dollar. On 2 November, 250,000 dinars buys about 1.3g of 21K gold. A savings view for Iraqi families.
Iraq, Monday 2 November 2026. Many Iraqi families are asking how to protect their savings.
On 7 October the government changed the official rate from 1,320 to 1,520 dinars per dollar, a fall of nearly 15% in the dinar’s value. In the market, the dollar averaged 168,250 dinars per $100 in Baghdad on 1 November. Gold, priced in dollars, fell about 6% in October but rose about 1% on Monday.
What it means for savers: savings held only in dinars lost value against the dollar. Gold is priced in dollars, so it moves with the dollar rate, but its own price also rises and falls.
Example: 1,000,000 dinars was worth about $758 at the old official rate. At the new rate of 1,520 it is worth about $658, about $100 less. A monthly saving of 250,000 dinars, at the market rate of 1,682.5 per dollar, buys about 1.3g of 21K gold at today’s Dubai benchmark of $113.75 per gram, before workmanship.
Advice for customers: if you save in gold, buy small amounts regularly rather than all at once. Choose plain pieces or small bars with low workmanship, because workmanship is not returned when you sell.
The honest caution: Gold is not a guaranteed saving. It dropped 6% in a single month this October. Keep emergency cash, never borrow to buy gold, and only save what you can leave untouched.
Al-Fahad Al-Dhahabi — gold savings, step by step.
