Parliamentary Finance: Delaying the 2022 budget will not affect the salaries of employees and retire

[size=52]Parliamentary Finance: Delaying the 2022 budget will not affect the salaries of employees and retirees[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives said, on Monday, that the delay in approving the budget for next year will not affect public spending units, noting that the salaries of employees, retirees and the social welfare network are fully secured under a legal alternative, and she talked about damages that may be caused to the investment side, some of which can be avoided through Payment deferral.[/size]
[size=45]The committee had talked earlier this week about the possibility of setting the oil price in the project at 50 dollars per barrel, expecting the total budget amount to be 120 trillion dinars after the reduction, but it did not rule out resorting again to obtaining loans in order to address the planned deficit.[/size]
[size=45]Committee member MP Muhammad Al-Shabki said in a statement to (Al-Mada), that "the current government is on the verge of early elections on the tenth of next month, and it currently has the opportunity to overtime in the hope of completing the budget bill."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shabki continued, "The Ministry of Finance and Planning prepares three periodic reports every two months, and they were submitted on time, and all of them include all economic forecasts and potential risks."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "These reports include a vision about the next year's budget, and also include the level of spending, the existing reserve, and the deficit."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shabki stated, “The law requires the Council of Ministers to present the draft budget in mid-October, and this is not possible due to the date of early elections.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shabki finds, “The project requires extensive discussions within the corridors of the government on the one hand, and between the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives and the relevant ministries on the other hand, and this time is not available at the present time.”[/size]
[size=45]He continues, "The government, as soon as the House of Representatives is dissolved on the seventh of next October, will turn into a daily task and does not have the constitutional right to discuss and send laws, especially those related to financial aspects."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shabki explained, “The treatment of the delay in approving the budget is through resorting to the Financial Management Law, specifically Article 27 of it, which stipulates that the monthly payment is 1/12 of the previous budget.”[/size]
[size=45]And he added, "The spending units in state institutions will have the ability to obtain financial allocations from the Ministry of Finance without causing problems, especially the issue of employee salaries, which will not be affected by the budget delay."[/size]
[size=45]A member of the Finance Committee believes that “a section of the sectors may be affected by the budget delay, especially those related to the investment side, but we are talking about the largest segment, especially employees and retirees.”[/size]
[size=45]And he added, "Expenditures for the investment side can be postponed and paid at a later time, but the issue of employees and retirees is very important, and we stress that they are insured and can be paid within the specified time."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shabki continues, "There may be an agreement behind the scenes not to hold parliamentary sessions due to the complex political situation, and because the government is heading to hold early elections and give it the opportunity to play this role."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shabki continues, that "there was an early talk about the inability to find a budget for 2022, and therefore the current law will be enough to address the shortfall that will occur next year."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shabki went on to say that “passing the 2022 budget depends largely on expediting the formation of the next parliament, selecting committee members, and holding sessions in order to exercise its legislative role.”[/size]
[size=45]And Finance Minister Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi had announced in an interview with reporters that the government is continuing to prepare the federal budget law for the next year, and he talked about offering it to vote in the Council of Ministers at the end of this month, but he expected it to be transferred to the next electoral cycle.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, another member of the committee, Jamal Kougar, said in a statement to (Al-Mada), that "keeping the elections on time has been decided in terms of the budget approval process by moving it to the next electoral cycle."[/size]
[size=45]And Cougar added, "The rest of the parliament's life, and the government's survival with full powers, does not allow the completion of discussions on the law, even if the government announces its completion, this does not mean that it will go to Parliament with the aim of voting on it."[/size]
[size=45]He added, "Parliament's discussions on the law take a long time, and this in practice makes approving the budget almost impossible."[/size]
[size=45]Cougar does not rule out that "the next government will resort to reformulating the draft budget on the grounds that it must agree with its ministerial curriculum."[/size]
[size=45]He continues, "The House of Representatives has constitutional powers to deal with the budget by reducing all of its expenditures, or transferring between chapters, and the increase should be in consultation with the government, and this option I do not expect will be resorted to in light of the current economic conditions and the challenges of the health file that requires Save money.”[/size]
[size=45]Cougar agrees with Al-Shabki, that “the budget approval process is not linked to the distribution of salaries, as the latter can be continued according to the Financial Management Law, as happened in the first months of this year.”[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the House of Representatives failed for the years 2014 and 2020 to approve the federal budget and relied on the Financial Management Law in managing its financial file, especially in terms of distributing salaries to employees and retirees.[/size]
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