An economist warns of ballooning government spending and calls for a 25% reduction.
An economist warns of ballooning government spending and calls for a 25% reduction.
10-19-2026
Information/Baghdad…
Economic expert Nasser al-Kinani warned on Monday of the increased financial burden on the budget due to the growing number of requests submitted by ministries and state institutions for inclusion in next year’s budget.
Al-Kinani told Al-Maalouma, “Each ministry has submitted a list of its budget needs to the government. The Ministry of Planning is responsible for reviewing these lists and allocating funds to each ministry according to its specific requirements. The same applies to the provinces and the Kurdistan Region.”
He added, “The current period should be one of austerity for all ministries, especially given Iraq’s precarious financial situation. This necessitates reducing expenditures in all state institutions and presidencies by at least 25 percent. However, the opposite has occurred, with requests increasing despite the difficulty of fulfilling these needs in the current challenging circumstances.”
He explained that “increasing the financial burden by raising the percentage of requests from state institutions means that Iraq will resort to borrowing and increased debt to cover the financial need, given the existing problems related to oil exports and the failure to achieve planned revenues. This necessitates addressing the situation and avoiding further burdens on the budget or overburdening it with large financial requests.”
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