Parliamentary Finance is preparing to make important amendments to the budget next week

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[size=52]Parliamentary Finance is preparing to make important amendments to the budget next week[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]The Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that next week will witness the beginning of making amendments to the budget after completing the first reading, pointing to the government’s request to submit a full report on covering the deficit, which it described as large, as it amounts to 200 trillion dinars for three years, and gave initial proposals regarding the possibility of reducing the price of a barrel. Oil, deleting some unnecessary expenses and setting priorities for investment projects.[/size]
[size=45]Committee member Mueen Al-Kadhimi said, "The members of the committee received copies of the federal budget law in the middle of this week, and we began to review them and hold the first meeting with the government represented by the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, and the advanced staff in the ministry."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi added, "The committee heard from Sami the reasons that prompted the government to raise the budget to 200 trillion dinars, of which 150 trillion went to the operational side and the remaining investment."[/size]
[size=45]And he stressed, “The need to know how to deal with the budget deficit, which is very large, estimated at 64 trillion dinars.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi spoke about “the possibility of making some amendments to the budget after completing the first reading, through which the committee contented itself with informing the deputies of the provisions of the law.”[/size]
[size=45]And he believes that “the real amendments will start next week, and they come in conjunction with the second reading and the holding of meetings with the various relevant authorities.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi pointed out, "The Finance Committee is serious about completing the budget as soon as possible, given that many of the interests of the Iraqi people are linked to it, and it must be completed in the fullest way, away from this large deficit."[/size]
[size=45]And he continues, “The budget currently presented, and by looking at its numbers, is the largest during the past two decades, and it must have a real review.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi stressed, "The government assumed that the budget is reproduced for three years, and this calls for clarity, especially in the deficit, which is estimated at 200 trillion for three years."[/size]
[size=45]And he finds, “Not making amendments to the government draft is not logical, because the amendment is a logical matter and falls within the powers of the House of Representatives. However, our main concern remains the success of the government’s work to implement its approved platform in Parliament, especially on the investment and social levels.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi added, "Parliament is supportive of the government in accomplishing its tasks regarding preparing salaries for employees and retirees, the social welfare network, the required projects, and preparing what the governorates need."[/size]
[size=45]And he added, “Meetings will take place with ministries, institutions and those concerned with the financial aspect, and they will generate conviction among the members of the Finance Committee regarding making appropriate adjustments, whether by reducing or increasing some sections or transferring.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kadhimi confirmed, "The share of the Kurdistan region in the budget amounted to 12.67%, which is approximately 16 trillion dinars, according to the figures carried by the government project, and that oil exports, revenues from border crossings, and advances that were paid for the salaries of the region's employees be calculated."[/size]
[size=45]And he goes on, “The federal government has recently reached an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government on oil export, which is temporary until the budget is approved, and we support this agreement and we will strengthen it in the budget.”[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Kazemi added, "Passage of the law will need about 30 days, and this means that it may leave until after the Eid holiday."[/size]
[size=45]And he added, "The technical aspect related to the Finance Committee is not the only one that will resolve the law, but rather the political consensus and objections of the blocs, especially during the second reading."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kadhimi stressed, “The committee and parliament seek to bring about rapprochement and understanding between the political blocs, and to give priority to the public interest.”[/size]
[size=45]And he stated, “What will help speed up the approval of the budget law is the great rapprochement within the State Administration Alliance that formed the government earlier.”[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Kazemi finds, “The government has dealt with all governorates with one look, and this is what we have seen in the draft budget submitted to Parliament, and we are currently discussing it.”[/size]
[size=45]And he noted, “The project included the confirmation of contractors with the state, through the job grades that were created in the Ministry of Finance, and they include 280,000 degrees for free lecturers, 74 degrees for holders of higher and first degrees in colleges, and other degrees for electricity contracts, the Baghdad Municipality, and self-financing departments.”[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Kazemi went on to say that “the salaries of the employees, who have become nearly 4 million employees, have reached, according to this law, 58 trillion dinars.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, another member of the committee, Representative Mustafa Al-Karawi, stated that “the government decided to make a reduction in oil production, and this makes us reconsider the public revenues that were included in the budget.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Karawi continued, "The parliamentary discussions on the budget will include all paragraphs, whether revenues, expenditures, or the deficit."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, “The committee asked the Ministry of Finance for a full report on the mechanism for covering the planned deficit in the budget, so that there would be reassurance among the deputies about that.”[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Karawi indicated that “the previous governments were unable to bridge the real budget deficit for the past years, and this will reinforce fears.”[/size]
[size=45]And while he stressed, “Parliament will not obstruct the passage of the budget in any way,” but he went back to clarifying that “the representatives want to proceed with the law after making sure that there are no risks regarding revenues covering expenses.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Karawi talked about “fixing several observations on the volume of operating expenses, and therefore it is possible that there will be a reduction in unnecessary ones.”[/size]
[size=45]And he called, “to offer investment projects according to priorities in order to achieve real benefit, and not be in front of an unknown path by implementing projects whose allocations cannot be provided due to the widening deficit gap.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Karawi concluded, “The committee is waiting for the submission of reports on the basis of which the price of a barrel of oil is determined, and therefore we may go to reduce it according to the convictions that we will reach.”[/size]
[size=45]And the Council of Ministers had voted in the middle of last month on the draft federal budget law for three years and sent it to the House of Representatives for its legislation and asked it, according to a subsequent statement, to discuss it as it is, and not to make amendments to it, expressing the readiness of the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, to appear before Parliament on this matter. The law that links the executive authority to the ministerial platform voted on by the House of Representatives.[/size]
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