Iraq avoids budget deficit thanks to one factor… Expert reveals the secret
Iraq avoids budget deficit thanks to one factor… Expert reveals the secret
2025/11/08
Economic expert, Salah Nouri, revealed that the Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 served as a safety valve that saved Iraq from entering a state of financial deficit by addressing cases of delay in approving the federal general budget law or its failure to be approved on the specified dates.
Nouri told Al-Furat News Agency that: “The Financial Management Law has addressed several cases related to the approval of the federal general budget law,” noting that “Article 13 stipulated clear procedures to ensure the continuity of spending even if the budget is delayed beyond December 31 of the year preceding the year in which it was prepared.”
He explained that “the aforementioned article authorized the Minister of Finance to issue an official circular based on specific criteria, whereby it permits spending at a rate of {1/12} or less of the total actual expenditures for current expenses for the previous fiscal year, after excluding non-recurring expenses, to ensure the continuity of employee salaries and the operation of government facilities without interruption.”
Nouri added that “the same article allowed for spending from the total annual allocation for ongoing investment projects whose allocations were included during the previous and subsequent fiscal years, according to the actual completion rates or completed stages of preparation, with the aim of preventing the suspension of projects under implementation.”
The economist explained that “the third paragraph of the article accurately addressed the situation of the budget not being approved at all, as it stipulated that the final financial data of the previous year be adopted as the basis for the financial data of the new year, provided that this data is submitted to the House of Representatives for the purpose of approval, which ensures the continuation of the state’s financial activity in a legal and organized manner.”
Nouri stressed that “this article, with its three paragraphs, represented a comprehensive solution to the situation of delaying or not approving the budget at the end of the fiscal year,” explaining that “thanks to it, Iraq avoided falling into financial paralysis, especially since the House of Representatives had previously approved a budget for three years {2023 – 2024 – 2025}, which strengthened financial stability and contributed to regulating government spending within specific and clear ceilings.”
alforatnews.iq
