DUBAI - Iraq central bank officials held "intensive meetings" with U.S. officials in Abu Dhabi in recent days to discuss foreign transfer operations covering imports, the Iraqi state news agency said on Saturday, citing a government source.

Iraq has boosted its yuan-denominated assets through the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) to finance Iraqi trade and imports with China, worth about $12 billion per year, the government source added.

The oil-exporting country has also moved to boost its assets in UAE dirhams and is negotiating an increase in its euro-denominated assets to finance trade with the European Union, the source said according to the state news agency.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Timour Azhari in Baghdad)