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CNN Saturday Morning News

Iraq Gets New Currency

Aired October 11, 2003 - 7:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, they are getting ready for their new currency, by looking for ways to get rid of the old stuff. At the Central Bank in Baghdad, a test was performed on some of the old currency, to see if it was burning. And actually, the best way to make it burn, to dispose of the old bills. The new currency is said to be released to the Iraqi people on Wednesday.
And that money makeover is at the list of the top of the list of the to-do list of the coalition. The new dinars will be featured -- that will be missing one feature that had dominated past Iraqi currency, will be Saddam's smiling face. Now, for more on that, let's talk about this big change with Dan Senor. He is with the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, you're one of the senior advisers. So Mr. Senor, how is this currency going to be brought into the Iraqi system?

DAN SENOR, SR. ADVISER TO PAUL BREMER: Well, it's a huge logistical challenge that we are working on, Andrea. It involves 2,200 tons of cash, the equivalent of $3 billion U.S., that will be brought into Iraq with over 20 747 flights. It's already began. It's going to continue over the next couple of days, and it will be distributed out to over 240 banks throughout Iraq, over the next couple of days, and then we'll be ready for Wednesday, October 15, when the exchange will commence.

KOPPEL: This is what the old currency looked like, for those who've never seen it before, obviously Saddam Hussein's picture on it. What are Iraqi citizens supposed to do with this old money, and will it have the same value as the new?

SENOR: It's going -- well, there's two currencies, which is one of the problems we're addressing. There's the currency for the central and southern parts of the country, and then there is a separate currency in the Kurdish north. The central and southern currencies will exchange into one for one, and the northern currency changes it over -- rather, over 100 dinars per one new dinar. But all Iraqis can basically take their existing old Iraqi currency to one of these kiosks and make the exchange there. We have 750 trained Iraqi professionals across the country who will deal -- who will handle the exchange.

KOPPEL: And they have about three months to do that. How are you getting the message out? Are you sure that all Iraqis are aware of these changes?

SENOR: Yes, we've been launched -- we launched a campaign a couple of months ago getting the word out on television and radio throughout the country. And it is resonating. Iraq is now the central front in the war on terrorism. And we're waging that war in many different ways. One is with military might, but we're also doing it by helping to stabilize the Iraqi economy. The new currency is a critical part of that, and we've been communicating it. There has sort of been a symbolic recognition or a celebration, if you will, by the fact that Saddam's face, his image will no longer appear on the Iraqi dinar. And that's been a cause of, as I said, great celebration in Iraq, which I think helped spread the word. You know, gone is Saddam Hussein, he's not coming back, gone are his rape rooms, gone are his torture chambers, gone are his chemical attacks, gone are his mass graves, and this is, as I said, a very symbolic recognition of it, and it's helped carry the word.

KOPPEL: Well, in our remaining seconds, we can put up on the screen what the new currency looks like, and explain, if you could, why you chose what you did for the new currency.

SENOR: Well, there's different images and different leaders, past Iraqi leaders, historical leaders, Hammurabi, Babylonian leader, appears on one bill. Other, 9th century mathematician from the region appears on another bill.

We've reached out to Iraqis and had a lot of discussions with Iraqi financial leaders and historical leaders and governing council members, and got a sense of what sort of taps the most into their culture and history, and they wanted a currency that they'd be proud of, and they were excited to replace Saddam Hussein with some of these images.

KOPPEL: Well, it is not a small task at hand. Dan Senor, senior adviser to Paul Bremer. Thanks so much for joining us.

SENOR: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 11, 2003 - 7:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, they are getting ready for their new currency, by looking for ways to get rid of the old stuff. At the Central Bank in Baghdad, a test was performed on some of the old currency, to see if it was burning. And actually, the best way to make it burn, to dispose of the old bills. The new currency is said to be released to the Iraqi people on Wednesday.
And that money makeover is at the list of the top of the list of the to-do list of the coalition. The new dinars will be featured -- that will be missing one feature that had dominated past Iraqi currency, will be Saddam's smiling face. Now, for more on that, let's talk about this big change with Dan Senor. He is with the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, you're one of the senior advisers. So Mr. Senor, how is this currency going to be brought into the Iraqi system?

DAN SENOR, SR. ADVISER TO PAUL BREMER: Well, it's a huge logistical challenge that we are working on, Andrea. It involves 2,200 tons of cash, the equivalent of $3 billion U.S., that will be brought into Iraq with over 20 747 flights. It's already began. It's going to continue over the next couple of days, and it will be distributed out to over 240 banks throughout Iraq, over the next couple of days, and then we'll be ready for Wednesday, October 15, when the exchange will commence.

KOPPEL: This is what the old currency looked like, for those who've never seen it before, obviously Saddam Hussein's picture on it. What are Iraqi citizens supposed to do with this old money, and will it have the same value as the new?

SENOR: It's going -- well, there's two currencies, which is one of the problems we're addressing. There's the currency for the central and southern parts of the country, and then there is a separate currency in the Kurdish north. The central and southern currencies will exchange into one for one, and the northern currency changes it over -- rather, over 100 dinars per one new dinar. But all Iraqis can basically take their existing old Iraqi currency to one of these kiosks and make the exchange there. We have 750 trained Iraqi professionals across the country who will deal -- who will handle the exchange.

KOPPEL: And they have about three months to do that. How are you getting the message out? Are you sure that all Iraqis are aware of these changes?

SENOR: Yes, we've been launched -- we launched a campaign a couple of months ago getting the word out on television and radio throughout the country. And it is resonating. Iraq is now the central front in the war on terrorism. And we're waging that war in many different ways. One is with military might, but we're also doing it by helping to stabilize the Iraqi economy. The new currency is a critical part of that, and we've been communicating it. There has sort of been a symbolic recognition or a celebration, if you will, by the fact that Saddam's face, his image will no longer appear on the Iraqi dinar. And that's been a cause of, as I said, great celebration in Iraq, which I think helped spread the word. You know, gone is Saddam Hussein, he's not coming back, gone are his rape rooms, gone are his torture chambers, gone are his chemical attacks, gone are his mass graves, and this is, as I said, a very symbolic recognition of it, and it's helped carry the word.

KOPPEL: Well, in our remaining seconds, we can put up on the screen what the new currency looks like, and explain, if you could, why you chose what you did for the new currency.

SENOR: Well, there's different images and different leaders, past Iraqi leaders, historical leaders, Hammurabi, Babylonian leader, appears on one bill. Other, 9th century mathematician from the region appears on another bill.

We've reached out to Iraqis and had a lot of discussions with Iraqi financial leaders and historical leaders and governing council members, and got a sense of what sort of taps the most into their culture and history, and they wanted a currency that they'd be proud of, and they were excited to replace Saddam Hussein with some of these images.

KOPPEL: Well, it is not a small task at hand. Dan Senor, senior adviser to Paul Bremer. Thanks so much for joining us.

SENOR: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com