Referral of the draft budget law to the Parliamentary Finance Committee to proceed with its legislation
Referral of the draft budget law to the Parliamentary Finance Committee to proceed with its legislation
2023-04-02 00:55
Shafaq News/ First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, referred, on Sunday, the draft federal budget law to the Parliamentary Finance Committee.
Al-Mandalawi’s office said in a brief statement received by Shafaq News agency, “Al-Mandalawi directed to expedite the study and discussion of the draft budget law to include it on the agenda in the nearest session.”
On Friday (March 17, 2023), Basem Al-Awadi, the spokesman for the Iraqi government, announced the delivery of the draft federal budget law for the fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025 to the House of Representatives.
The last budget approved in Iraq dates back to April 2021, while one was not adopted in 2022 due to the political turmoil that paralyzed the country for a year after the last legislative elections.
During a government meeting, the Council of Ministers approved “the draft federal budget law for the fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025…and referred it to the House of Representatives,” according to a statement issued by the office of Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa al-Sudani.
Al-Sudani said that this “budget will be repeated for three years,” adding that these numbers may undergo “amendments and with the approval of the House of Representatives in the event of changes in numbers, oil prices or quantities.”
The proposed expenditures in the new budget amount to 197 trillion and 828 billion dinars ($152 billion, according to the official exchange rate), including investments worth 47 trillion and 555 billion dinars ($36.5 billion). In 2021, the value of the proposed investments in the budget amounted to $19.6 billion, and in 2019 it amounted to $27.8 billion.
The total revenues of the proposed budget for one year amount to 134 trillion and 5 billion dinars ($103.4 billion), based on the price of a barrel of oil of $70. In 2021, revenues amounted to $69.9 billion at a price of $45 per barrel of oil.
As for the proposed deficit in the new budget, it is 63 trillion and 75 billion dinars (about 48 billion dollars), compared to 19.8 billion in 2021 and 23.1 billion in 2019.
He allocated about 307 million dollars to the autonomous Kurdistan Region in order to pay the salaries of its employees, in exchange for 400 thousand barrels of oil per day produced in the region.
In order to secure basic expenses, the Iraqi parliament voted in the summer of 2022 on the emergency support law, amounting to $17 billion, and allowing Iraq, in particular, to purchase gas, electricity, and grains to ensure “food security.”
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