In the first such move since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Central Bank Tuesday announced the founding of the National Company for Limited Financial Services in the southern city of Basra.

The Central Bank said in a statement that the firm will specialize in issuing the Al-Fayhaa credit card. The statement quoted Director General of the bank's Basra branch, Zuhair Ali Akbar, as saying that the company is privately-owned.

Akbar said that credit cards will soon be used in Basra, then the rest of Iraqi cities and the outside world, following an agreement between the company and the Middle East Bank. 

© 2005 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)