124 trillion dinars Iraq’s revenues in 10 months and an expert warns of “oil”
124 trillion dinars Iraq’s revenues in 10 months and an expert warns of “oil”
2024-12-29 00:43
Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Ministry of Finance revealed on Sunday that the size of revenues in the federal budget during ten months exceeded 124 trillion dinars, while an economic expert considered that the “excessive” dependence on oil may expose the country to economic fluctuations.
Shafaq News Agency followed the data and tables issued by the Ministry of Finance in December of this year for ten months starting from January until October of the current fiscal year, which showed that the revenues from oil decreased slightly to 88%, but it still constitutes the main resource for the general budget, indicating that the rentier economy is the basis of the country’s budget.
The financial tables indicated that the total revenues for ten months of the current year amounted to 124 trillion, 659 billion, 47 million, 830 thousand, and 362 dinars, indicating that the total advances amounted to 18 trillion, 74 billion, 75 million, 887 thousand, and 751 dinars.
According to the tables, oil revenues amounted to 110 trillion, 220 billion, 945 million, and 501 thousand dinars, which constitute 88% of the general budget, while non-oil revenues amounted to 14 trillion, 438 billion, 778 million, and 884 thousand dinars, which constitute 12% of Iraq’s general budget.
For his part, economic expert Mohammed Al-Hasani said in an interview with Shafak News Agency, “This excessive reliance on oil will expose the country to macroeconomic fluctuations, and will limit any opportunity to develop policies to confront expected fluctuations.”
He added, “Iraq needs to raise growth rates in the non-oil sector in order to absorb the shocks of oil prices when they decline,” indicating that “in order to reduce dependence on oil, a major adjustment of the public financial situation is required based on increasing non-oil revenues, reducing current spending, and reviewing the customs tariff structure.”
In March 2021, the Prime Minister’s advisor for financial affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed in an interview with Shafaq News Agency that the reasons for the economy remaining rentier are due to the wars and the imposition of an economic blockade on Iraq during the past era and the political conflicts we are witnessing today, which led to the dispersion of economic resources.
The continued reliance of the Iraqi state on oil as the sole source of the general budget puts Iraq at risk from global crises that occur from time to time due to the impact of oil, which makes the country turn every time to cover the deficit through borrowing from abroad or domestically, which thus indicates the inability to manage the state’s funds effectively, and the inability to find alternative financing solutions.
shafaq.com
