After a two-year hiatus, the Iraqi government begins preparing the 2027 budget draft.
After a two-year hiatus, the Iraqi government begins preparing the 2027 budget draft.
2026-07-06
Shafaq News – Baghdad
On Monday, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, revealed that the Ministry of Finance has begun preparing the draft federal general budget law for 2027, in the first new budget that Iraq has begun preparing after two years without approving a federal budget.
Saleh told Shafaq News Agency that the Ministry of Finance began preparing the draft federal general budget law for 2027 during the month of July, based on the Financial Management Law, and that it will finish its work next September.
He added that the draft bill will then be referred to the Ministerial Council for the Economy for discussion, before being submitted to the Cabinet for approval and sent to the House of Representatives.
He pointed out that it is not possible at the present time to determine the financial size of the federal general budget for 2027, explaining that the total value of the budget will be determined after the Ministry of Finance completes the preparation of the draft law.
The government’s commencement of preparing the 2027 budget comes after two years of the absence of an effective federal budget with approved schedules, as the 2025 budget schedules were not approved, nor was a budget law for 2026 approved, despite the House of Representatives, during the government of former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, approving the three-year budget law for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The 2025 budget, in its updated form, could not be implemented after its schedules were not approved within the House of Representatives and the fiscal year ended, which prompted the Ministry of Finance to adopt a temporary disbursement mechanism at a rate of 1/12, based on the Financial Management Law, to secure salaries, governing expenses and basic obligations.
The 2026 budget was also not approved, due to political complexities and economic pressures resulting from regional tensions and energy market volatility, so Iraq continues to manage its spending according to the temporary spending mechanism, pending a new federal budget.
shafaq.com
