Federal budget delay: between political obstruction and revenue conflict
Federal budget delay: between political obstruction and revenue conflict
7-26-2025
Information / Baghdad..
The 2025 federal budget faces an unprecedented delay in the government’s submission of its schedules to the House of Representatives. This has sparked a wave of criticism and mutual accusations between political forces and parliamentary committees, amid warnings of economic and financial repercussions that threaten the country’s constitutional obligations and public spending plans.
For his part, MP Hussein Mounes, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, accused certain political blocs of deliberately obstructing the submission of the budget schedules, asserting that this delay serves private interests and constitutes a clear violation of the Financial Management Law.
“The delay has exceeded half of the fiscal year, which is unjustified,” Mounes told Al-Maalouma. He noted that the Finance Committee “has been exerting continuous pressure on the Ministry of Finance for months to complete the schedules, and has hosted the minister and her specialized staff more than once without tangible results.”
He believed that some political parties preferred to maintain the status quo, controlling spending through unregulated mechanisms. He warned that this undermined the very essence of fairness in the distribution of spending and left the state in a state of temporary paralysis.
The other part of the crisis relates to the troubled financial relationship between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which the Finance Committee also accuses of delaying the delivery of oil revenues agreed upon under the budget law.
Committee member Moeen Al-Kadhimi said, “The region has not complied with Article 12/C of the budget law, which requires it to deliver 400,000 barrels per day to SOMO.” He added, “The region is not content with not delivering, but is continuing to smuggle at least 250,000 barrels per day, escaping central government oversight.”
Al-Kadhimi stressed that “this behavior hinders the government’s ability to manage resources fairly and undermines the principle of financial transparency,” asserting that “these violations represent a fundamental obstacle to the preparation of financial schedules and the equitable distribution of revenues.”
In light of this disruption, the controversy surrounding the approval of the 2023 three-year budget is reminiscent of the debate. The passage of the budget required months of arduous negotiations, resulting in fragile agreements that quickly crumbled due to the lack of political and administrative commitment from some parties.
Observers believe that the current situation does not bode well for an imminent breakthrough, particularly given the ongoing lack of trust between the central government and the region, divisions within parliament itself, and regional and domestic pressures on Iraqi financial decision-making.
Delays in submitting budget schedules not only represent a procedural violation, but also directly impact the country’s economic situation. They prevent the launch of new investment projects, delay the implementation of financial allocations to ministries and governorates, and negatively impact market activity, employment, and services.
Economists warn that the continuation of this situation could lead to the reactivation of the temporary 1/12 disbursement policy, which would hinder medium- and long-term financial planning and harm broad segments of society, particularly those with contracts and development programs.
The budget delay crisis once again reveals the extent of the structural challenges facing financial management in Iraq, both in terms of federal-regional relations and the political interference that hinders executive performance.
With trust between the parties declining, the citizen remains the primary victim of this disruption, waiting for the public interest to prevail over narrow calculations.
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