He stressed that approving the budget prevents the disposal of the financial surplus..A government a

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[size=52]He stressed that approving the budget prevents the disposal of the financial surplus..A government advisor denies not paying salaries at the beginning of next year[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]A government advisor denied the inability to pay the employees' salaries at the beginning of next year, stressing that the failure to pass the budget does not impede the regular expenditures, but it prevents the disposal of the current surplus.[/size]
[size=45]The Economic Adviser to the Council of Ministers, Haitham al-Jubouri, said, “The budget delay prevents spending from the surplus oil prices, which can only be controlled through the budget law or another law similar to emergency support for food security and development.”
Al-Jubouri added, “The issue of salaries and the fulfillment of the financial obligations contained in the operational aspect, has nothing to do with the budget law.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "Article 13 of the amended Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 stipulates the continuation of spending on a monthly basis at a rate of 1/12 of the last approved budget until the new budget law is approved."[/size]
[size=45]And al-Jubouri, "the investment budget for the governorates and ministries is financed by the same mechanism, depending on the achievement achieved."[/size]
[size=45]The government advisor pointed out that "salaries are not affected by the existence of the budget or not, and it is clearly stipulated in the Federal Financial Management Law."[/size]
[size=45]And he believed, "This does not mean that the budget is not important, because we are facing an increase in spending with the increase in the number of employees and the population, and there are new aspects of spending that will appear to the state. On investment projects, even if there is a surplus that has been achieved as a result of high oil prices.” He stressed, "The existence of the budget is not only related to salaries, or it is limited to the operational aspect of maintenance and the provision of commodity and service requirements, but it is related to continuing to deal with population growth and high inflation rates and other aspects."[/size]
[size=45]He noted, "The government is not technically incapable of preparing the budget bill, but the Federal Supreme Court's decision prevented it from sending the bill to the House of Representatives for approval."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Jubouri added, "The possible solutions are either for the government to obtain a mandate from Parliament that allows it to send the two bills, or to wait for the new government."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Jubouri went on to say that “the situation remains as it is, which will prompt the government to demand the House of Representatives a law allowing it to spend, as happened with the Emergency Food Security Support Law, which authorizes it to dispose of some surplus funds.”[/size]
[size=45]Professors specialized in financial and constitutional law denied the possibility of the state stopping paying salaries at the end of this year, stressing that the legislation in force obliges the state to continue spending on all its facilities even in the absence of a budget for more than a year. A professor of financial legislation at the University of Mosul, Qabas Al-Badrany, said, "The Financial Management Law No. (6) of 2019 (amended) regulated the budget preparation process, what it includes, and the cases that may occur there." Al-Badrany added, “The third chapter of this law consists of several articles, including Article 13, which stipulates two cases. The first is the delay in approving the budget beyond the date set before December 31.”[/size]
[size=45]She indicated, "The solution is through the Minister of Finance to issue a circular according to which he will spend monthly on the basis of the budget for the previous year."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Badrany reported, "The law allows spending according to this mechanism until the approval of the federal budget, and this means that there is a legal extension even if the approval of the budget continues to be disrupted."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Badrany stated, "The second case, referred to by the law, is the failure to approve the budget for a full fiscal year, and in this case, the final financial statements for the previous year are the same for the year that did not witness the approval of the budget."[/size]
[size=45]She stressed, "The last budget approved in Iraq is for the year 2021, and therefore its data is approved on the basis of exchange, and the Minister of Finance in this case does not need approval, but merely issues a circular, and these data are submitted to the House of Representatives for the purpose of approval." Al-Badrany went on to say, “No country in the world can dare to stop public spending, especially current expenditures such as salaries, maintenance, and daily and monthly exchange, and therefore the law in force allowed for monthly spending to be repeated on the basis of the 2021 budget in 2023.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, Professor of Constitutional Law at Al-Mustansiriya University, Wael Munther, stated that “the claim that Article 13 of the Financial Management Law cannot be applied to the next year is incorrect.”[/size]
[size=45]Munther continued, "Those who support this trend have interpreted the article literally, which is incorrect, and said that the exchange on a monthly basis according to the previous budget is for one year only." He pointed out, "Adherence to this literal interpretation contradicts the principle of the permanence and continuity of the state, especially when we are under a caretaker government with daily tasks."[/size]
[size=45]Munther believes, “The interpretation closest to the legal reality is to rely on the monthly percentages of the nearest approved budget if the fiscal year in which we are not witnessing the adoption of a budget.”[/size]
[size=45]He stressed, "It is incorrect to say that salaries will stop at the end of the current year, because the budget has not been approved for two consecutive years."[/size]
[size=45]Munther concluded, “The government should be committed to paying salaries and spending from the operating budget, because we are facing a basic principle on which the state is based, which is the principle of permanence and continuity of the public utility represented by the state.”[/size]
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