Parliamentary finance fails to reduce the budget deficit and continues to vote on its articles

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[size=52]Parliamentary finance fails to reduce the budget deficit and continues to vote on its articles[/size]

[size=45]The Parliamentary Finance Committee is preparing to pass the articles of the budget law before presenting it to a vote next week, confirming that there will be no reduction in the amount of the planned deficit. Committee member Representative Khalil Ghazi said, "The size of the budget will remain the same, but some transfers will occur between expenditure items."[/size]
[size=45]Ghazi continued: “We are now in the stage of discussing the budget items, that is, the texts of the budget articles, and the possibility of amending some of them or adding some new articles,” adding that “the size of the budget deficit will remain the same.”[/size]
[size=45]The other member of the committee, Representative Mueen Al-Kadhimi, confirms that “discussions on the budget law have reached their final stages, especially in terms of meetings with ministers, heads of agencies and governors.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi added, "The Finance Committee is in the process of finalizing the law and has intensified its meetings in this regard."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The State Administration Coalition made a decision that the seventeenth of this month (today) is the initial date for voting on the law, and we hope to complete this file completely during this week." Al-Kadhimi stressed, "The current budget ceiling, which is about 200 trillion dinars, will remain unchanged until we give the government the opportunity to perform its approach that was voted on by Parliament."[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Kazemi stated, “The House of Representatives will not touch the high ceiling, and we are certain that this amount will not be spent entirely during the remainder of the current year, and a good part of it will circulate until next year.”[/size]
[size=45]And he continues, “The political blocs agree on the need to expedite the approval of this law, and there are no differences, especially after the federal government concluded an oil agreement with the Kurdistan region.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kazemi concluded, “The delay in the budget for a period not short is due to several reasons, the most prominent of which is related to the change in the exchange rate of the dollar and changes in the global oil markets and other factors related to the executive apparatus.” Committee member Mustafa Al-Karawi said, “The Finance Committee does not bear the responsibility for delaying the approval of the law, which took a long time in the government, and then the presidency of Parliament before referring it to us.”[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Karawi continues, “The government was late in preparing the law for three months, after which it was referred to Parliament, and then he remained in the presidency of Parliament for about 20 days, and we arrived at the beginning of last month.” And he believed, “The period that the budget took in the committee is very good, because the law needs discussions with government agencies, especially since the texts indicate a high spending and deficit volume.”[/size]
[size=45]In addition, Representative Jawad Al-Yasari stated, “The Parliamentary Finance Committee ended the day before yesterday voting on a number of the budget, with several articles remaining that will be completed during the current week.” Al-Yasiri added, "The political blocs are determined to end this file and pass the budget during one of the sessions next week, because of its utmost importance to the country's conditions in general." And a parliamentary statement stated, “The Finance Committee resumed its meetings headed by Representative Atwan Al-Adwani, Chairman of the Committee, and the presence of its members yesterday, where it was stressed the need to expedite and invest the time factor in completing the articles and paragraphs of the Federal General Budget Law in preparation for voting on it.” The statement added, “During the meeting, the committee hosted those concerned in the Ministries of Planning, Finance, and the Central Bank, to clarify a number of issues included in the general budget law, including the loan mechanism and the obligations of distributing percentages to ongoing strategic projects in the governorates, in order to adapt them in line with the implementation of the government program.” Pointing to "emphasis on completing projects and distributing their financing according to the needs of those projects." He pointed out, to "discussing the (Iraqi-Chinese) framework agreement, to finance the sums for implementing construction projects (1000) schools, energy support projects in Iraq, and other projects under the agreement."[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Shakhwan Abdullah, announced earlier this week that the vote on the federal budget law for the years (for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025) will take place this week, adding that “the vote on the federal budget law will take place this week, and the House of Representatives will hold a special session to approve The general budget and its approval, because it is an important law and citizens in all governorates of Iraq are waiting for it.[/size]
[size=45]On March 13, 2023, the Council of Ministers approved the Iraqi federal general budget draft law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025.[/size]
[size=45]According to Article (1) of the draft budget law, the revenues of the federal general budget for the fiscal year 2023 are estimated at (134,552,919,063) dinars, with estimated revenues from exporting crude oil calculated on the basis of an average price of (70) dollars per barrel, and an export rate of (3,500). (.000) barrels per day, including (400,000) for the quantities of crude oil produced in the Kurdistan region on the basis of the exchange rate (1300) dinars per dollar, and recording all revenues actually generated as final revenue for the account of the public treasury of the state.[/size]
[size=45]An amount of (199,022,111,663) dinars has been allocated for the fiscal year 2023, including the following amounts: operating expenses in an amount of (133,221,694,002) dinars, indebtedness represented by internal and external debt installments (12,750,981,021), and special programs in an amount of (3,587,284,886). dinars.[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that Iraq did not vote on the 2022 budget, due to differences between the political parties, which followed the parliamentary elections.[/size]
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