The Sudanese government approves a budget, half of which is for employees who work 20 minutes a day

The Sudanese government approves a budget, half of which is for employees who work 20 minutes a day

3-13-2023

Baghdad – The government of Muhammad Shia’a Al-Suadni will approve in the coming days one of the largest annual budgets in Iraq, which amounts to about 200 trillion dinars, or the equivalent of 140 billion dollars. Citizen, they work an average of 20 minutes a day.

Observers say that while there is one government employee for every 150 citizens in Germany, there is one government employee for every 10 citizens in Iraq. If they were already working, Iraq’s economic conditions would be about 15 times better than Germany’s. And the deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Hakim al-Zamili, makes the estimates worse by saying that the number of those who receive salaries from the state amounts to 11 million people.

The budget leaves only a narrow space for investments in industrial or agricultural fields that could lead to the absorption of the available labor force.

According to information received from the Council of Ministers and Representatives, the general budget for 2023 amounts to 196 trillion dinars, and includes an increase in employee salaries by an amount of 20.540 trillion dinars. Members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee in the Iraqi parliament say that the number of employees working in the 2023 budget will increase, and that from 60 to 65 trillion dinars will be allocated from the size of the budget for salaries, or the equivalent of 70 percent of the state’s operating budget, except for the salaries of retirees, who number about 2.5 One million citizens, and those with social care, numbering about 1.2 million citizens.

Finance Minister Taif Sami announced the completion of the preparation of the project and said, “The draft budget will focus on development priorities, support for the social protection network, and the most needy groups, as well as providing a secure cover for strategic and sustainable development projects.”

But observers say that spending more than half of salaries does not provide a way to achieve these development priorities, especially since independent estimates indicate that about 4.5 million employees are registered in current government records, which reveals the level of waste in public funds and renews fears that government records include fake employees. And their salaries go to groups and parties that have sponsored an internal system of corruption with formal appointments for nearly two decades.

The budget remedied the debate with the Kurdish bloc, by agreeing on most of its items, which is likely to be passed in parliament after first and second readings by the end of this month.

Representative Moin Al-Kazemi said, “A delegation from the Kurdistan region conducted dialogue rounds with the federal government, which discussed all controversial issues related to the budget and the oil and gas law.”

Among the outstanding issues was the issue of the federal authority’s request for data on the number of employees, non-oil revenues, and the quantities of oil exported from the region. However, Al-Kazemi said, “The region’s delegation promised the federal government to present all this data containing transparent numbers so that a final formula can be reached to be put into the budget law.”

It is expected that the region’s share in the budget will reach about 14 percent of the total general budget.

“The final agreement has only the final touches left, and we may not need a new round of meetings on the budget,” said the representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Jay Taymur.

Jamal Cougar, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, told Rudaw that “53 trillion and 834 billion dinars were fixed for the salaries and bonuses of employees in the 2021 budget, after which the number of employees increased and at least 1,000 people were appointed in each governorate in 2022, so there was in Iraq More than 3 million and 260 thousand employees, and now their number has increased to more than 4 million.

It is expected that the Ministry of Higher Education will receive 5.23 percent of the budget allocated to employee salaries, the Ministry of Education will receive 5.3 percent, the Ministry of Health will receive 3.17 percent, and the Baghdad governorate will receive 6.79 percent, while the Dhi Qar governorate will receive 2.26 percent and Babil 2.62 percent. And Basra 2.61 percent, Diyala 2.1 percent, Najaf 1.76 percent, Diwaniyah 1.86 percent, Karbala 1.49 percent and Wasit 1.62 percent.

According to Ali Al-Lami, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Environment and Climate Affairs, the budget allocations for the current year will include 30 projects related to climate change, amounting to $6 billion.

According to a study published by the Iraq Future Foundation on Thursday, the budget allocated to employee salaries reached 43 trillion and 76 billion dinars in 2022, while in the 2021 budget it reached the limits of 42 trillion and 44 billion dinars, i.e. the amount allocated to employee salaries in 2022 increased by 2.9 percent compared to 2022. 2021.

It is estimated that about 4.5 million employees are registered with the government, which reveals waste and renews fears of the existence of fake employees

The head of the institution, Manar Al-Obeidi, told the “Rudaw” media network that “salaries took 26.9 percent of Iraq’s total revenues for the year 2022. The security sector received the largest percentage of the budget allocated to salaries, which amounted to 53.48 percent of the amount, and 27 percent of it went to the Ministry of Interior and 16 percent to the Ministry of Defense.

And while about 300,000 university graduates enter the labor market annually, in addition to about 500,000 professionals and inexperienced people, the labor market does not absorb a growth of more than 150,000 job opportunities, which explains the growing unemployment crisis, because it is not being absorbed by During economic activity outside the scope of state functions.

Observers say that the budget leaves only a narrow space for investments in industrial or agricultural fields that could lead to the absorption of the available labor force. Although the Sudanese government can provide the spending it needs by relying on public reserves that amount to about $115 billion, reading the daily currency conversion rates carried out by the Central Bank, which ranges between $150 and $200 million per day, means that these reserves will It won’t last long.

But if oil prices fall back below $60 per barrel, the Sudanese government, or the next one, will find itself in trouble.

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