Deputy: Approval of the budget will take place before Ramadan
Deputy: Approval of the budget will take place before Ramadan
2023-02-12
A member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Ahmed Al-Fawaz, saw that the approval of the General Budget Law 2023 will take place before the month of Ramadan, indicating that five sessions will be held per week in order to discuss the budget law and then approve it.
Al-Fawaz told the Rudaw media network, “It is possible that the draft budget will be submitted to the Iraqi parliament this week,” adding that “there will be five consecutive sessions every week in order to discuss the budget law for the year 2023.”
“Within two weeks, the discussions will be completed, so it is expected that the budget will be approved before Ramadan.”
It is noteworthy that Iraq did not vote on the 2022 budget, due to differences between the political parties, which followed the parliamentary elections.
As for the possibility of disagreements over the budget law, Al-Fawwaz noted that “disputes were settled during the last meeting of the State Administration Coalition, through a convergence of views and distancing the budget from some of the existing problems and outstanding files,” pointing to “preparing a timetable to end these outstanding files and problems.”
The size of the Iraqi federal general budget for the year 2021 was more than 101 trillion dinars, and the price of oil was estimated at $45 per barrel, but the price of oil has risen to nearly double that price.
The fiscal year covered by the General Budget Law ends on December 31 of the same year, and the Financial Management Law, which requires the disbursement of one twelfth of the actual spending in the previous year, is in effect until the new General Budget Law is issued.
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mustafa Al-Karawi, previously told Shabaka that the Iraqi government’s decision to reduce the exchange rate of the US dollar to 1,300 dinars will contribute to raising the budget deficit to 90 trillion dinars, which is “a violation of the Financial Management Law.”
Representative Mustafa Al-Karawi said, regarding the government’s recent decision to reduce the exchange rate of the US dollar: “We are waiting for the government’s measures in this regard, because it is certain that the decline of the dollar will increase the budget deficit, or they will reduce investment expenditures, given that this creates a problem.”
Al-Karawi explained, “The deficit in the general budget is supposed to be 70 trillion dinars, but in light of the government’s recent measure, the budget deficit may rise to 90 trillion dinars, which is a violation of the financial management law.”
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, he saw that “the decision to lower the dollar exchange rate is a good thing to serve the poor citizen and relieve economic pressure on him,” adding that “the local markets and foreign transfers that are the basis and control of the local market must be controlled.”
Mustafa Al-Karawi pointed out that “the black market is important in this aspect, so the government must control it and fulfill the requirements of the Federal Bank and provide real documents and invoices for import,” noting that “if these requirements are met, the World Bank will certainly agree to latest government action.
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