MP: US loan to Iraq is conditional on parliamentary legislation
On Thursday, Mansour Al-Baiji, a member of the parliamentary finance committee, confirmed that the American loan that Iraq is supposed to receive is contingent upon the passage of the borrowing law in the House of Representatives. IraqPolitics Report
Al-Baji told Shafaq News Agency that “the borrowing law will be included on the agenda of the upcoming sessions of the House of Representatives, at the request of Finance Minister Falih al-Sari.”
He added that “there is an external loan of $2 billion from the US Treasury, but it is conditional on the Iraqi parliament passing a law on borrowing.”
“Without a loan law, we believe that the United States of America will not give any loan to the government of Ali al-Zaidi,” he asserted.
The parliamentary finance committee revealed last Monday that the borrowing law will be an alternative to the general budget law for 2026.
The head of the parliamentary finance committee, Uday Awad, told Shafaq News Agency that “the law includes mechanisms for internal and external borrowing, without specifying a certain amount or financial ceiling,” explaining that “the draft law grants specific powers to each minister with regard to spending, in addition to other powers granted to the Council of Ministers in accordance with the provisions of the law.”
Earlier, Finance Committee member Hussein Al-Daraji revealed to Shafaq News Agency that the legislative and executive authorities intend to gradually move towards implementing a “programs and performance budget” starting from next year, 2027, to ensure the regulation of spending and the protection of public funds.
The committee had hosted the Minister of Finance and senior officials in the ministry on July 7 to discuss the financial and economic situation and the mechanisms for preparing the draft federal budget for 2027.
Shafaq.com