Clients losing trust in banks in northern Iraq
Banks have been struggling to attract clients since Baghdad cut budget payments in 2014 after oil prices plummeted.
An Iraqi man gives packs of old notes to a bank clerk to change them for new notes in Mosul, Iraq, October 15, 2003.
Since Baghdad cut budget payments to its Kurdish region in January 2014, trust in Iraq's financial institutions has been fading.
People have been avoiding depositing their money into the banks as they are afraid that they will not be able to get their cash back.
"I'm aware that three or four banks in the region went bankrupt. It created fear among people about depositing money into banks because they're afraid the money will disappear," Halat Salman, Director of Cihan private bank told TRT World.
"And they think every bank is the same and that this will happen to other banks as well. However, this assumption should not be generalised because there are very good banks in the area with very good reputations," Salman added.
It seems that the region's crippled economy will remain the same as its financial institutions fail to regain the trust of people.
TRT World 's John Joe Regan has more.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.