A new reform paper from Parliament … will be merged with the white paper
Soon, the first round of negotiations between the government and parliament will start, with the aim of merging these two papers and turning them into a unified draft law regulating the financial and economic reform process.
The new paper that was prepared a few days ago by the Parliamentary Finance Committee after receiving more than fifty proposals and a note from Council members will be brief and not lengthy, and it will depend on setting up a mechanism to regulate collection and work at border crossings and review licensing rounds.
Thamer Thebian, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee,
explained in a statement to (Al-Mada) that in the next few days, joint dialogue sessions will start between the Parliamentary Finance Committee and the Ministry of Finance to discuss the terms and paragraphs of the reform white paper, pointing out that the meetings aim to convert the reform paper into a draft law for approval in Parliament.
The white paper that the government sent to Parliament last October, consisting of about a hundred pages, is a plan for financial and economic reform that has been deteriorating for years and aims to invest the country’s vast and large resources and manage them in a discreet manner over a period of three to five years.
“The reform white paper bill will include observations and proposals by the House of Representatives and work on adding articles that oblige the government to send a number of draft laws to the legislative authority to organize the process of economic and financial reform.”
The White Paper identified the defects in the Iraqi economic system for several years, and proposed solutions represented in restructuring the public companies owned by the state and converting them into private companies, and fixing the defects in the ration card system in a way that secures the protection of people with limited income and withholding them from families whose income exceeds the ceiling. a certain.
As soon as the Parliamentary Finance Committee began reviewing the articles and paragraphs of the reform paper, the parliamentary blocs and a number of council members began to send their observations and proposals to be included in the white paper before returning it to the government.
Regarding the remarks of parliamentary committees and political blocs, Ikhlas Al-Dulaimi, a deputy from the KDP bloc, confirms in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “the number of proposals and observations of political blocs and parliamentary committees on the White Paper amounts to about fifty proposals,” adding that “the Parliamentary Finance Committee will begin reviewing these proposals. soon”.
Financial experts and specialists consider the reform paper that it seeks to transform the Iraqi economic system from a rentier state dependent on oil revenues by 90% to an agricultural industrial country that opens its doors to foreign and domestic investment.
Al-Dulaimi, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, explains that “the political blocs, parliamentary committees and members of the House of Representatives submitted (35) proposals to the Parliamentary Finance Committee, which in turn put forward about (15) proposals and notes on the white paper.”
Despite optimism about the content and terms of this reform paper, there are political and parliamentary parties who doubt its procedures and consider it cruel and difficult to implement in light of the current economic crisis, and the high rates of unemployment and poverty due to the Corona pandemic.
The paper also included a review of fuel subsidies for state-owned oil companies, and the proceeds from selling black oil should return to the state treasury, issuing national bonds and instruments and offering them for public circulation in the Iraq Stock Exchange, AS WELL AS STUDYING THE CURRENT EXCHANGE RATE OF THE DOLLAR AGAINST THE DINAR and taking into account the requirements of financial and monetary stability. And to achieve the competitiveness of the Iraqi economy.
In the context of this, a parliamentary source who refused to reveal his identity to Al-Mada states that “the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee of its members to review the content of the reform white paper and unify it with the vision of parliamentary reform that will be presented soon,” affirming that the relevant parliamentary committees will discuss the reform paper New with the government.
For his part, Yahya Al-Issawi, a member of the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, confirms that “the two parliamentary financial and economic committees have begun preparing a parliamentary paper that will be in harmony with the government paper to overcome the financial crisis that Iraq is going through.” He expected that in the coming days, the parliamentary paper will be ready as a road map for the government.
The circumstances of the financial crisis and the collapse of oil prices in global markets and the repercussions of the Corona virus pandemic prompted Mustafa Al-Kazemi’s government to review the financial policy in Iraq in order to overcome the financial distress threatening the Iraqi economy.
Al-Issawi added in a statement to (Al-Mada) that “the parliamentary paper will be limited to how to collect and organize work at the border outlets and call for a review of licensing rounds,” considering that “these steps are a short-term plan.”
The white paper included a plan to reduce public sector salaries and reform the state’s financial sector in order to ensure an end to the system of quotas and patronage that political elites rely on to consolidate their powers.
The MP from Baghdad governorate continues his speech by saying that “the two parliamentary financial, economic and investment committees will work together and in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance to merge these two papers (government and parliament) into a unified draft law that sets solutions and remedies to overcome the financial crisis that Iraq is going through,” adding that “the parliamentary paper will be brief.” And not lengthy ”.