Sudani: We spent 450 trillion dinars in 3 years… and the borrowing was done legally.
Sudani: We spent 450 trillion dinars in 3 years… and the borrowing was done legally.
2026-11-14
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani defended his government’s financial policy on Saturday, stressing that spending and borrowing could not be done outside legal frameworks, while noting that his government spent 450 trillion dinars out of 660 trillion during the three years of the budget.
Al-Sudani said during a discussion seminar held in Baghdad, which was attended by a correspondent from Shafaq News Agency, that the Iraqi budget was $24 billion in 2004 during the era of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, and has now risen to about $150 to $170 billion, questioning the reasons for this change, and calling for the adoption of real solutions and “confidentness with the people.”
He explained that the 2025 budget included 100 trillion dinars for employee and retiree salaries and social welfare out of 150 trillion dinars, 25 trillion for sovereign and governing expenditures, and 25 trillion for the investment budget, which is divided into 13 trillion for licensing round fees and 12 trillion dinars for ministry and governorate services.
He added that the government spent 450 trillion dinars during the three years out of a budget of 660 trillion approved by the House of Representatives, which means, according to him, that it spent less than the amounts required in the three budgets that were voted on by the House of Representatives.
Regarding the claim that the current government inherited an “empty” state treasury, Al-Sudani said, “Unfortunately, there is an atmosphere of falsification and misinformation,” adding, “As I look at the faces among elites, professors, analysts, and media figures, the legitimate and national responsibility rests on their shoulders to convey the truth, not to talk about a person.”
He pointed out that “all Iraqi governments, including the current and previous ones, cannot spend any amount outside the framework of the budget approved by Parliament, and this is self-evident, given that the political system is a parliamentary system.”
Al-Sudani stressed that the current government and previous governments cannot spend any amount outside the budget that was voted on by the House of Representatives, and no government can borrow without a law, indicating that the deficit in the budget was 70 trillion dinars, and that the budget law stipulated borrowing 35 trillion dinars.
Regarding the issue of salaries, Al-Sudani said that it is not possible to address employee salaries by reducing them, noting that 21 trillion dinars are spent on the Ministry of Electricity alone.
He pointed out that Iraq was producing 5 million barrels per day, while simultaneously importing oil derivatives from abroad, indicating that the last months of his government’s term witnessed reaching the stage of self-sufficiency in oil derivatives, before the regional war affected that.
In another context, Al-Sudani said that the State Administration Coalition is the one that formed the current government, and there is no bloc outside the government, noting that all blocs are participating in it, and are supposed to support its decisions.
He added that Iraq is an oil-producing, industrial, and agricultural country, and possesses human and industrial resources through which it can achieve self-sufficiency.
Al-Sudani’s remarks come amid political controversy over the debts and financial obligations inherited by the government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zidi, succeeding al-Sudani’s government, whose term officially ended on May 16, 2026.
Members of Parliament and the Finance Committee say that the Sudanese government handed over to the current government outstanding debts of nearly 210 trillion dinars.
In contrast, the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, led by Al-Sudani, denies that the latter’s government left the state treasury empty, and said that the actual borrowing during its government did not exceed 34 trillion dinars.
shafaq.com
