Liquidity shortages and financial waste… The Iraqi parliament identifies serious government shortcomings.
Liquidity shortages and financial waste… The Iraqi parliament identifies serious government shortcomings.
2025-09-18 05:26
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Finance Committee of the Iraqi Parliament revealed on Thursday that the state has a cash shortage due to low oil revenues and significant waste of public funds.
Committee member Moeen Al-Kadhimi told Shafaq News Agency that there is a shortage of financial liquidity due to the decline in oil and non-oil revenues. To address this, revenues must be increased, especially non-oil revenues.
Al-Kadhimi added that oil revenues amount to 120 trillion dinars, while non-oil revenues have not reached 13 trillion dinars annually. Revenues are expected to exceed 20 trillion dinars, and that total revenues of 140 trillion dinars would be sufficient for the Iraqi state.
According to Al-Kadhimi, annual non-oil revenues are expected to exceed 20 trillion dinars. For example, the state treasury receives 6 trillion dinars from the Tax Authority, 7 trillion from the Customs Authority, and 3 trillion from the Communications and Media Commission. In addition, revenues from the Ministries of Interior, Electricity, Construction, Municipalities, and the Baghdad Municipality total 5 trillion dinars.
The Finance Committee member pointed out the existence of unnecessary expenditures and waste of public funds, stressing the need to ensure that expenditures on projects are not exaggerated, as 3 billion dinars were spent on building the school, while the actual cost amounts to only 1.25 billion dinars.
The Federal Ministry of Finance has consistently denied reports of a financial deficit or cash shortage, but this trend becomes apparent at the end of each month, with the start of payments for employee and pensioner salaries and social welfare.
Implementing the Iraqi investment budget has also faced significant challenges due to the delay in releasing financial allocations and the lack of funding for contractors over the past few months, leading to the stalling of many projects in Iraq’s governorates.
shafaq.com
