The coffers are empty and the 2026 budget is buried… Will Iraqis enter a phase of “tightening their belts”?
The coffers are empty and the 2026 budget is buried… Will Iraqis enter a phase of “tightening their belts”?
6-27-2026
Information / Exclusive…
Jamal Kojar, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, confirmed on Saturday that the government’s continued operation without a general budget effectively transforms it into a “caretaker government.” He also revealed that the current government has shelved the 2026 budget and is moving towards a radical change in the structure of the 2027 budget.
Kojar told Al-Maalouma that “the government now lacks the necessary legal cover for investment and development spending,” noting that “current government spending is limited exclusively to the operational budget (salaries and daily expenses), based on the (1/12) mechanism.”
Kojar added that “the government’s talk of sending the draft 2027 budget to Parliament next October means, practically and theoretically, the end and closure of the 2026 budget file without its approval,” pointing out that “if the government had intended to send a budget for the current year, it would have done so months ago.”
In a highly anticipated strategic shift, the MP revealed a “comprehensive change in the state’s financial philosophy,” explaining that “the upcoming budget (2027) will most likely be a program and performance-based budget, not a traditional line-item budget, which will completely transform the country’s financial management.”
Kujer urged the state’s executive branch to “adhere to the provisions of the Financial Management Law,” emphasizing the necessity of “finalizing the draft 2027 budget and submitting it to Parliament before mid-October, to ensure legislators have sufficient time to review and approve it, so that it becomes effective at the start of the new year.”
The Finance Committee member warned of “the severe consequences of the absence of an investment budget on the public and markets,” noting that “the failure to submit the 2026 budget resulted in the freezing of financial entitlements for broad segments of the population.” He pointed out that “this freeze has cast a heavy shadow on the business sector, particularly contractors and owners of investment projects, exacerbating the crisis of stalled projects and halting development in the provinces.”
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