What are the real reasons behind the delay in sending budget tables?
What are the real reasons behind the delay in sending budget tables?
4-23-2025
Information / Report..
With the end of the first quarter of the current year, the budget schedules have not yet reached the House of Representatives for approval, and the government is still concealing the real reasons behind this delay. Is it deliberate or are there obstacles that the government does not want to reveal? These questions are still being asked by the Iraqi street, but for the moment they have not received a sufficient answer from the government or even the Parliamentary Finance Committee. If they have been declared by the government or parliament, these statements do not go beyond repeated and repeated words that it will be sent to parliament soon.
One of the reasons that is exposed and known to everyone is the amendment of paragraph (12 A, second) of the three-year budget law related to the region’s oil, and this matter was resolved at the beginning of this year through a parliamentary vote on the amendment.
The delay in submitting the budget schedules has been widely criticized, with MPs and economic experts arguing that the Ministry of Finance lacks a clear economic vision or sound management of financial resources, which is leading to the disruption of investment and service projects and the disruption of economic cycles in countries. They pointed out that the continued delay in submitting the budget directly impacts the national economy, as it slows down government projects and postpones the implementation of many development plans. This negatively impacts investment and creates financial instability, especially given the urgent need to control spending and achieve economic balance.
Regarding the issue, MP Mahma Khalil, a member of the Parliamentary Services Committee, said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, “The continued delay in sending the budgets of successive governments for more than two decades has become a normal occurrence, but at the same time, it has a negative impact on the economic, investment and service movement in the country, in addition to being a legal violation of the Financial Management Law No. (4) of 2019.”
He added, “Specialists in the field of finance and economics confirmed that the continuation of this problem indicates the Ministry of Finance’s lack of a real economic vision and financial management.” He believes that “the delay in the tables for the current and past two years is intentional or the Minister of Finance’s lack of experience in managing funds. Therefore, the House of Representatives should summon the Minister of Finance to Parliament to clarify the reason for the continued delay in the annual budget tables and whether there is intent behind the issue of the delay for months.”
According to the Financial Management Law No. (4) of 2019, the delay in submitting the financial tables is a legal violation, as the Ministry of Finance was supposed to send the tables to the Council of Ministers last October, to be approved before the beginning of the new year. However, the continued delay without clear justifications has sparked resentment within Parliament, as some of its members consider this delay to be an underestimation of the role of the House of Representatives and its oversight and legislative work.
For his part, Member of Parliament Muhannad Al-Khazraji called on the government to reveal or clarify the real reason behind the delay in sending the 2025 budget tables to Parliament.
Al-Khazraji said in a statement to / Al-Maalouma / agency, “After the House of Representatives voted to amend Article (12A) Secondly of the General Budget Law related to the region’s oil, the government did not send the budget tables for the current year, despite the passage of more than a month since the vote on the aforementioned article.”
He added, “The most important goal of preparing a three-year budget is related to passing the budgets smoothly without any delay, but this goal will not be achieved,” calling on “the government to disclose or explain this delay or send it as soon as possible to parliament for approval.”
Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, MP Moeen Al-Kazemi, had previously called on Al-Sudani’s government to send the budget schedules as they are linked to the interests of many segments of society, in addition to providing funds for ongoing or new projects.
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