The Iraqi government delivers the tripartite budget bill to Parliament
The Iraqi government delivers the tripartite budget bill to Parliament
2023-03-17 01:40
Shafaq News/ On Friday, Bassem Al-Awadi, the spokesman for the Iraqi government, announced that the draft federal budget law for the fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025 had been handed over to Parliament.
Al-Awadi said in a statement, “The handover took place yesterday evening, Thursday. We affirm that the draft budget law, including the new articles and paragraphs it contains, which was approved for the first time, is capable of facilitating the implementation of projects, plans, and executive and development programs, and the provision of infrastructure and services for citizens.”
On March 13, 2023, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved a draft financial budget law with high proposed expenditures and investments, driven by the increase in oil prices.
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 on Monday, 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.”
shafaq.com
