Parliamentary Finance: Budget amendments widen the deficit gap to 60 trillion dinars

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[size=52]Parliamentary Finance: Budget amendments widen the deficit gap to 60 trillion dinars[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]The Parliamentary Finance Committee stated that the budget deficit will reach 60 trillion dinars, and talked about two important variables in this law, the first negative represented in violating the Federal Financial Management Law, and the second positive in that it includes many programs stipulated in the ministerial curriculum, looking forward to completing this file within a maximum period of one month next.[/size]
[size=45]A member of the committee, Representative Jamal Cougar, said, "Parliament has not received, until now, any confirmed information about the content of the draft budget law."[/size]
[size=45]And Cougar continued, “It is clear to us that the exchange rate of the dollar has changed from 1450 dinars to 1300 dinars, according to what the Council of Ministers recently voted on based on the recommendations of the Central Bank of Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The possibility of resolving the dispute over the price of a barrel of oil by making it from 70 to 71 dollars, according to the estimates that we receive."[/size]
[size=45]Cougar talked about "information stating that the deficit will reach 60 trillion Iraqi dinars, especially after changing the exchange rate."[/size]
[size=45]And he stressed, “The government will have two options, either compressing public expenditures, as stated in the recent statements of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a Al-Sudani about the budget, or adding the difference made as a result of changing the exchange rate, which we estimate between 12 to 15 trillion dinars to the deficit.”[/size]
[size=45]Cougar stated, “This budget includes two variables from previous budgets: the first is negative in violation of Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 as amended, which stipulates that the deficit should not exceed 3% of the GDP, estimated at $220 billion.”[/size]
[size=45]And he noted, "If the deficit is 60 trillion, according to the estimates received by us, its rate will be many times greater than what was determined by the Federal Financial Management Law."[/size]
[size=45]And Cougar went on to say that “the second positive variable comes with the inclusion in the budget of many programs that were included in the ministerial curriculum and translated into projects in this law, such as the construction of hospitals, schools, external roads, and investment in associated gas.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, another member of the committee, Representative Mueen Al-Kazemi, stated that "changing the exchange rate led to a drop in state revenues from 149 trillion dinars to 135 trillion dinars."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi continued, "This measure cost the state an amount of 15 trillion dinars in order to support the citizen and the fragile classes that were suffering from anxiety as a result of the significant rise in the dollar exchange rate."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The rise was supposed to be addressed in the draft budget law for the current year, which is what the Ministry of Finance is working on."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi stressed, "The Ministry of Finance, in coordination with the relevant authorities, is working to end all variables, especially in terms of the exchange rate of the dollar and a barrel of oil, in preparation for presenting the project to the Council of Ministers."[/size]
[size=45]It is not expected that «the project will be delayed with the Council of Ministers for a long time, especially after the positive dialogues that took place with the Kurdistan region recently and discussed outstanding issues regarding the proportion of the region and other matters related to oil and gas and entitlements».[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi looks forward to "the law being completed by the government during the current month, in order to send it to parliament, discuss it and legislate it."[/size]
[size=45]And he stressed, "The House of Representatives began holding early meetings with the ministries in order to see their financial needs, as happened when our committee met with the Ministry of Electricity for the same purpose."[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Kazemi concluded, that “a political desire is for all budget provisions to be completed within a date no later than next month, so that we enter the stage of implementing the paragraphs during the first half of this year.”[/size]
[size=45]On a related note, the committee's rapporteur in the former parliament, Ahmed Al-Saffar, stated that "the current price of a barrel of oil in the global markets is $86."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Saffar continued, "Iraq's resort to a conservative price of 65 dollars would achieve an amount of up to 120 trillion dinars resulting from oil revenues."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "Non-oil revenues, which are taxes, fees and customs, must bring us an amount of no less than 20 trillion dinars."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Saffar believes that "the least that can be calculated is 50% of this amount, which is 10 trillion dinars, and thus the revenues will be about 130 trillion."[/size]
[size=45]And he stressed, "The abundance of oil last year amounted to 50 trillion dinars, after deducting 25 trillion that went to financing the Emergency Support for Food Security and Development Law No. 2 of 2022."[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Saffar added, "These sums, in total, will reach the revenues to an amount of no less than 175 trillion dinars."[/size]
[size=45]He describes, "The budget will be the largest in the history of Iraq and can be used properly in order to bring about a comprehensive change in the economic situation."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Saffar concluded, "The operational budget with new jobs will not exceed 90 trillion dinars to 100 trillion dinars, and the rest can be directed to investment in a way that generates large resources for the treasury."[/size]
[size=45]And the government advisor, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, had stated in press statements, that “the draft budget law for the year 2023 was almost complete and ready for approval by the Council of Ministers, but what delayed this was the dollar crisis, as the fluctuation in exchange rates delayed the approval of the budget.”[/size]
[size=45]Saleh added, "The government's decision to reduce the official price prompted the reformulation and restructuring of the project again, according to the new official price of the dollar."[/size]
[size=45]And he pointed out, “Work is continuous and continuous in order to reformulate the paragraphs and provisions of the budget law in accordance with the new exchange rate for the dollar.”[/size]
[size=45]And Saleh noted, "This will prompt the restructuring of large sections of the law and the exchange doors, and even the issue of internal and external debts, and work is continuing, and this may be accomplished within the next two weeks, as a maximum."[/size]
[size=45]And Saleh went on, "The budget for the year 2023 will be completely different from previous budgets, in terms of service projects and financial allocations to complete important projects that have high completion rates, and the deficit in them will be estimated, and it will be filled through the surplus funds from the last fiscal year."[/size]
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