“There’s no money”… Iraqi minister: The government is only thinking about securing salaries
Iraqi Health Minister Abdul Hussein Al-Moussawi acknowledged on Thursday that the government is facing a liquidity crisis that has made securing salaries its priority, while confirming that the General Company for Marketing Drugs and Medical Supplies (Kimadia) has received only 15% of its budget, which has led to its bankruptcy, the disruption of new contracts, and a threat to drug supplies.
During his speech in a video recording, which was reviewed by Shafaq News Agency, Al-Moussawi stood up from his seat and addressed the audience, saying: “There is no money… the government’s only concern is to provide salaries from the 1st to the 29th of the month,” indicating that the value of the salaries that need to be provided monthly amounts to “10 trillion and 800 million dinars per month.” DailyNews Reports
The minister explained that the decline in revenues from the currency auction window to between one billion and one and a half billion dollars per month, equivalent to about 2.2 trillion dinars, was directly reflected in the financing of the “Kimadia” company, which he said had received only 15% of its annual dues.
He added that the financial crisis led to a halt in the signing of new contracts for the current year, and prompted supplier companies to stop shipments of previously contracted medicines, which, he said, caused a decline in services within hospitals.
Earlier, Shafaq News Agency , quoting an informed source, reported that the process of distributing state employees’ salaries for the current month is expected to begin at the start of next August, amid the continued financial challenges facing the public treasury.
Shafaq.com