Iraq CBDC Tracker

Iraq is in the research phase. It was revealed in 2025 that the Central Bank of Iraq is working on issuing a CBDC to replace cash.

CBDC History and Development

In February 2025, Central Bank of Iraq governor Ali Al-Alaq revealed that the central bank is planning to launch a CBDC to replace cash. According to reporting in Iraqi News, the announcement was made at the Iraq Finance Expo.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

Iraq earned a 30 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2024 Freedom in the World report. As Freedom House noted in the report, surveillance, corruption, and economic restrictions are issues for Iraq. The issuance or adoption of a CBDC in Iraq could worsen these issues.

“Commentary on controversial topics, including on social media, is considered to be off limits and at times prompts arrest, docking of salaries, torture, and criminal lawsuits.” Unfortunately, a CBDC could be used to greatly expand surveillance by putting financial records on government databases by default.

“Corruption remains a major problem in Iraq and was a key contributor to the 2019 Tishreen protest movement,” according to Freedom House. “Political parties siphon funds from the ministries they control, take kickbacks for government contracts, monopolize specific sectors of the economy, and resist anticorruption efforts.” The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

Not one to tolerate competition, the Central Bank of Iraq banned cryptocurrency in 2017. Banning cryptocurrencies entirely or banning certain uses of cryptocurrencies has been common among governments interested in CBDCs. In fact, many governments point to combatting cryptocurrency use as one of the main reasons to launch a CBDC.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.