Iraq's cabinet named an interim central bank chief on Tuesday after the bank's well-respected governor, who was on an overseas trip, was suspended amid a currency manipulation probe. The move followed the announcement of an inquiry into allegations that officials at the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) had intentionally weakened the value of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar.
"The cabinet decided to authorise Abdelbassit Turki, the head of the Board of Supreme Audit, to run the central bank indefinitely," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's spokesman Ali Mussawi said, adding that Sinan al-Shabibi had been suspended from his post by the anti-corruption watchdog.