Parliament asks the caretaker government to send the budget

[size=52]Parliament asks the caretaker government to send the budget[/size]

[size=45]The House of Representatives decided to approach the government to send the federal budget law for the current year, but experts described the move as ill-considered, and they argued that the government of “carrying out daily tasks” does not have the right to send bills, and its resort to this option would be enough to overrule it before the Federal Supreme Court.[/size]
[size=45]And Mustafa Al-Kazemi’s government shifted to carrying out daily tasks on the seventh of October in accordance with the provisions of Article 64 of the Constitution, after the House of Representatives was dissolved. A statement by the Parliament's Media Department, which was followed by (Al-Mada) on Monday, stated that "the Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, directed to address the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to send the federal budget for 2022."[/size]
[size=45]big obstacles[/size]
[size=45]In addition, economic expert Mustafa Akram Hantoush said in a statement to Al-Mada that "the House of Representatives' initiative to expedite the approval of the budget law for the current year is a step on the right path." Hantoush added, "There are significant obstacles facing this initiative, most notably on the legal side, which prevents the Council of Ministers from sending draft laws when it becomes a daily task, including the budget." He pointed out that "the budget is the largest financial law for the state, and it basically represents the viewpoint of the next government, which may have a new logic that differs from what the current government bears." And Hantoush indicated, "The Cabinet talked about the completion of the final stages of the draft budget for the current year, but the next government has the right to return the wordings and paragraphs in proportion to the new ministerial curriculum before sending it to the House of Representatives." He believes that "taking any decision by the Council of Ministers in response to Parliament's request to send the budget is a futile work, and its fate will be to respond to the government that will be formed, and therefore we will be in front of an unjustified waste of time and effort." Hantoush stressed that "observers aspire to develop a budget capable of dealing with future scenarios, exploiting the surplus oil and placing it within strategic programs capable of advancing the reality of Iraq." He finds, "The current stage requires the completion of large projects in Iraq, such as the port of Al-Faw, investment in gas and other strategic projects."[/size]
[size=45]exchange rate struggle[/size]
[size=45]In addition, the other economic expert, Nabil Jabbar Al-Ali, stated that "the authority responsible for sending the budget is the government with full powers, not what is known as the government that handles daily tasks." Al-Ali continued, in an interview with Al-Mada, that "the correct context is for the current parliament to wait for the formation of the new government to send the budget." And he noted, "Parliament's legislation for a budget sent by a caretaker government for daily tasks, will lead to easily overturning it before the Federal Supreme Court." Al-Ali describes what Parliament resorted to yesterday as “a confusion of political corridors, which causes more crises,” noting that “the legal cover for spending at the present time exists, which is the Federal Financial Management Law, spending a month according to a ratio of 1/12 compared to the previous budget.”[/size]
[size=45]He stated, "This legal cover can secure employee salaries and other public expenditures for official departments and institutions," noting that "the budget includes new resources and expenditures, in addition to the investment aspect of projects and regional development." Al-Ali added, "The budget should include articles related to economic reform, especially reducing spending on some state institutions or selling public property." It is expected, "The issue of the dollar exchange rate will witness a deep discussion in the budget law, as it has turned to the political side, and therefore it will take a long time of discussions and discussions." Al-Ali called for “putting a correct estimate of the price of a barrel of oil in proportion to the current situation and estimates in the global market in order to set a real budget close to reality.”[/size]
[size=45]He explained, "Current indicators indicate that the budget will be the same estimates as what was established in 2021 and 2019 and do not differ much from them." Al-Ali continued, "The budget amount will be about 130 trillion dinars, of which 95 to 100 trillion will go to the operational side represented by salaries and public expenditures, and the remainder to the investment side." He continues, "The budget legislator will look primarily for securing the operational side of the budget, while the investment will be covered by the surplus oil price."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Ali concluded, “The situation cannot bear the formulation of a budget that enjoys more flexibility and includes new resources, and therefore we will remain within this framework that the state has followed in recent years.”[/size]
[size=45]prudential balancing[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi government is preparing the federal budget for the year 2022, which economists described as "precautionary", given the possibility of its dependence on borrowing, at a time when the Ministry of Planning ruled out the inclusion of new projects in the budget. The federal budget relies, by more than 90%, on oil sales that have been affected during the past two years by the Corona pandemic, which prompted Iraq to move towards borrowing to bridge the 2021 budget deficit, before returning to recovery at the beginning of this year, as the oil price currently exceeded the $ 92 barrier. barrel. A spokesman for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul-Zahra Al-Hindawi, told Al-Mada that "the government's approach to projects in the country was not included in the 2022 budget bill, new projects," noting that "the Council of Ministers gave priority to the suspended projects or those that have reached completion rates. advanced but not yet complete. Al-Hindawi added, "Work on the current (uncompleted) projects is ongoing, and timetables are being set for their completion, so the financial allocations for them are being monitored within the current year's budget." A spokesman for the Ministry of Planning concluded his speech by noting that “the adoption of the federal budget law for the current year is left to the constitutional timings that will result in the election of a president of the republic, who in turn assigns the head of the new government, to take upon itself to submit the bill to Parliament for study and then pass.” Despite the package of reforms launched by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, more than a year ago, in the files and issues of corruption and lagging projects, some of which amounted to more than 10 years, the country is still witnessing a stumble in the implementation of thousands of projects worth tens of billions of dollars. , according to observers. On the other hand, the economic expert, Amer Al-Jawahiri, considered that “the country needs to complete service projects, infrastructure and superstructures in bulk,” stressing that “these projects must be pre-planned before starting them, in order to avoid reluctance or stopping them from time to time.” Al-Jawahiri ruled out, during his speech to (Al-Mada), the start of the completion of any (large) project during the current year 2022, because two months have passed since the beginning of the new year, and the budget has not been approved until now, and that any large and huge project must be prepared and studied plans and documents in an extensive manner. until it is initiated. Al-Jawahiri, however, found what the Ministry of Planning had said does not mean closing the door to concluding any contract or agreement to complete a major project, because “large projects need great studies and planning before they need money.” Al-Jawahiri ruled out, during his speech to (Al-Mada), the start of the completion of any (large) project during the current year 2022, because two months have passed since the beginning of the new year, and the budget has not been approved until now, and that any large and huge project must be prepared and studied plans and documents in an extensive manner. until it is initiated. Al-Jawahiri, however, found what the Ministry of Planning had said does not mean closing the door to concluding any contract or agreement to complete a major project, because “large projects need great studies and planning before they need money.” Al-Jawahiri ruled out, during his speech to (Al-Mada), the start of the completion of any (large) project during the current year 2022, because two months have passed since the beginning of the new year, and the budget has not been approved until now, and that any large and huge project must be prepared and studied plans and documents in an extensive manner. until it is initiated. Al-Jawahiri, however, found what the Ministry of Planning had said does not mean closing the door to concluding any contract or agreement to complete a major project, because “large projects need great studies and planning before they need money.”[/size]
[size=45]The economist stressed, “the need for the government to move towards large projects,” pointing out the importance of “the government having priority for projects close to completion, to turn their page and start benefiting from them.” Al-Jawahiri believed that not moving the wheel of projects during 2022, due to the lack of a budget, would mean a continued delay in the completion of these projects, and thus the government would have to move them to next year again.[/size]
[size=45]The economic expert noted, “the possibility of including new projects for the 2022 budget, if they are studied, their feasibility is understood, the timing of their completion, and their entry into service, such as the Iraqi-Chinese agreement,” calling on the government to “benefit from another country that witnessed similar conditions to Iraq and was able to advance its projects.” by repeating her experience.[/size]
[size=45]Official figures are not available about the lagging projects in the country, but economists indicated that their number exceeds eight thousand, and that most of them relate to service sectors such as health, education, water, electricity, housing and bridges, as well as projects in the agricultural and industrial sectors.[/size]
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