WASHINGTON, July 8: The International Monetary Fund welcomed on Tuesday US plans to introduce new banknotes in Iraq.

“The availability of an adequate supply of domestic currency, one that is both secure and includes appropriate denominations to facilitate its use by the Iraqi people, represents an important step toward the restoration of economic activity and of a working payments system,” said IMF first deputy managing director Anne Krueger.

“Accordingly, we support this initiative and encourage its timely implementation,” she said in a statement.

The top US civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, announced on Monday the introduction of new banknotes to replace the New Iraqi Dinar introduced in 1991 and bearing the image of ousted leader Saddam Hussein.

“On October 15, new Iraqi dinar banknotes will be available to the Iraqi people. They will replace the existing Iraqi ‘print’ dinars at parity,” Bremer said in a televised address aired on the national network in Iraq.

The so-called Swiss Dinar — in circulation in northern Kurdish regions — would also be replaced at the value of 150 new dinars to one Swiss Dinar, Bremer said.

Krueger said the IMF was assisting in the process of reconstruction and recovery in Iraq, including through advice on monetary matters.—AFP