Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has dismissed the governor of the country’s central bank and assigned its former chief, Ali Mohsen Al Alaq, to replace him, Report informs referring to The National.
Mohammed Shia Al Sudani summoned Mustafa Ghaleb Mukheef amid worries sparked by the Iraqi dinar falling sharply against the dollar.
Al Alaq led the Central Bank of Iraq from September 2014 to September 2020.
Mukheef is close to Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, who is boycotting Al Sudani’s government, while Al Alaq is close to the State of Law political group, one of the Prime Minister's main backers.
Al Sadr’s political group, the Sadrist Movement, emerged as the biggest in parliament after elections in October 2021, winning 73 of the 329 seats but it failed to form a government.
His withdrawal from the political process was in protest against what he called illegal attempts, mostly by the Iran-backed Co-ordination Framework, to block the formation of a government. The Co-ordination Framework later formed the government, bringing in Al Sudani.
Since taking office in late October, the prime minister has been replacing government officials with others close to Co-ordination Framework.