Parliament responds to the Minister of Finance: It is not possible to proceed without a budget
Parliament responds to the Minister of Finance: It is not possible to proceed without a budget
Monday 8 June 2020 | 06:32 pm
Baghdad / .. The decision of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Al-Saffar, expressed on Monday, “surprised” by the statements of the Minister of Finance Ali Allawi, in which he excluded the approval of the budget for the year 2020, while he indicated that the alternative is to approve the semi-annual operational budget, not investment.
Finance Minister Ali Allawi ruled out approving the 2020 budget, and he said in a press statement, that he excludes the approval of the 2020 budget, indicating that work is underway to prepare for the 2021 budget.
Al-Saffar said, “We were surprised by that statement, and we were waiting for the government to send the draft budget,” adding that “the House of Representatives issued a decision and obligated the government to send the budget this month.”
He added, “The deadline for sending the budget is June 30, but we were surprised by this statement.”
He continued, “Perhaps the statement is due to difficulties faced by the Ministry of Finance,” noting that “in general we cannot spend a year without a budget because this is public money, and that the use of public money and its disposal is supposed to be by law and there will be oversight and this process is done through the budget.”
Al-Saffar added, “There is still time; the budget can be semi-annually, and it is okay to be operational and not investment, as we do not have enough time to implement projects”, adding that “we have a semi-annual budget that is better than spending a year without a budget.”
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