Tasnim � The central banks of Iran and Iraq are finalizing negotiations to begin trade in their own currencies, chairman of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce said.

Speaking to Tasnim, Yahya Ale-Eshaq said negotiations between the central banks of Iran and Iraq are under way to reach an agreement on using rial and dinar in bilateral trade.

Once finalized, the agreement would allow the banks of the two countries to issue letters of credit on the basis of Iranian rial and Iraqi dinar, he added.

Ale-Eshaq also noted that the value of Iran�s exports to Iraq in the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 21- November 21) reached $8 billion, equal to the total amount of exports to Iraq in the previous year.

On Saturday, secretary general of Iran-Iraq joint chamber of commerce, Hamid Hosseini, said the daily value of Iran�s exports to Iraq stands at $45 million and sometimes reaches $70 million.

Iraq�s new Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim has made it clear that his country cannot cut off trade ties with Iran under the US sanctions, saying the value of annual trade between Iran and Iraq amounts to $12 billion.