Parliamentary Finance reveals the latest developments in the budget debate

Economical: Al Furat News… A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee said that “there is convergence regarding the share of the Kurdistan Region in the draft federal budget law for the current year 2021.”

Sherwan Mirza said in a press statement, “The Kurdish blocs are waiting for the Shiite blocs to present their last opinion regarding the region’s share,” noting that “there is convergence between the two sides in opinions.”

He added, “The government proposal and the proposal of the Shiite blocs are close.”
Mirza ruled out “passing the budget law in the House of Representatives without the Kurds,” noting that “there may be a final agreement regarding the region’s share in the last moments before the vote on the bill in the parliament session scheduled for next Monday.”

The Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, had directed in the last session to include the draft federal budget bill for 2021 in the parliament session scheduled for next Monday, based on a request submitted by Representative Yusef al-Kalabi signed by 150 deputies.

Alforatnews.com

Al-Sadr’s Alliance is distancing the Kurdistan Region from delaying the budget and disclosing other differences

Shafaq News / The Saeron Alliance, supported by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr revealed, on Saturday, that the dispute over the Kurdistan Region’s share in the 2021 budget is not the reason for the delay in voting on it by the House of Representatives.

The deputy of the coalition, Riyadh Al-Masoudi, told Shafaq News, “The problems and disagreements about the draft budget law for the year 2021 are not related only to the share of the Kurdistan Region, but there are technical differences, including the issue of the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar, as well as the issue of including job degrees in the law, in addition to The surplus amounts due to the rise in oil prices, and others. ”

He added, “Until now, there is no agreement to pass the 2021 budget law during next Monday’s session,” explaining that “the inclusion of the law for a vote on it does not mean passing it or getting approval for that.”

Al-Masoudi ruled out “the possibility of passing the budget bill without the agreement of all political parties on it, but this agreement has not happened until now.”

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bashir Al-Haddad, had ruled out last Thursday the approval of the federal budget for 2021 at the mid-session next week.

Al-Haddad said in a statement to reporters in Erbil that it is “difficult to pass the financial budget in next Monday’s session because the Federal Court law has not been approved yet,” stressing that another special session for the budget should be determined.

Last Monday, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi directed that the budget bill be included on the agenda of next Monday’s session, based on a request submitted by Representative Yusef al-Kalabi, signed by 150 deputies.

Shafaq.com

MP: Al-Kazemi and Allawi are exerting political pressure on the management of the Central Bank

The information / Baghdad … On Thursday, a member of the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, Layal Al-Bayati, held two sides responsible for changing the exchange rate of the dollar, while the Minister of Finance, Ali Allawi, was accused of harassing Iraqi citizens with limited income.

Al-Bayati said in a statement to / the information /, that “Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi and Minister of Finance Ali Allawi are the ones who bear the consequences of the high exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar,” indicating that “the prime minister and the Minister of Finance have exerted political pressure on the current Central Bank management by raising the dollar exchange. “.

She added, “The Ministry of Finance bears full responsibility before the House of Representatives,” stressing that “with the rise in crude oil prices and growing oil revenues, Minister of Finance Ali Allawi is still insisting on raising the price of the dollar and restricting Iraqi citizens, especially those with limited income, with completely rejected justifications.”

Earlier, the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee revealed the intervention of the US Embassy in Baghdad to change the exchange rate of the dollar, which sparked a wave of popular discontent and affected the poor classes. End / 25 h

Almaalomah.com

Parliamentary Finance excludes voting on the budget next Monday

Today, the Parliamentary Finance Committee ruled out submitting the federal budget bill for 2021 to a vote during next Monday’s session.

Committee member Naji Al-Saeedi said in a statement to “Tigris”, that “collecting parliamentary signatures to set the date for voting on the budget during next Monday’s session is just an embarrassment for the political blocs inside the parliament,” ruling out “putting forward the draft federal budget law for 2021 to vote during next Monday’s session.” “.

He added that “the dispute over the budget is still present and the political blocs have not reached a specific position on it,” noting that “the regional government delivered Baghdad the initial data that I requested from it regarding the employees and the revenues achieved.”

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MP: The negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil on the 2021 budget have not stopped

The information / Baghdad… MP Iqbal Al-Lahibi confirmed, on Friday, that negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil on the terms of the 2021 budget have not stopped.

Al-Lahibi said in an interview with the information, that “the budget is one of the important laws of the country, especially as it charts the financial path and the economy for a year in terms of spending and financing reconstruction projects and the rest of government obligations, stressing that the budget faced many complications, the bulk of which was resolved and only some outstanding issues remained. “.

Al-Lahibi added, “The negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil to settle the terms of the 2021 budget did not stop, confirming that the budget will be presented for discussion and voting during the next Monday session in order to seek to resolve it, pointing out that political consensus will be present to resolve the budget chapters and push them forward in order to resolve the most important laws that will have repercussions in other directions, especially since many of the files “Stopped about the voting file.”

The House of Representatives decided to set the next Monday session as a date for voting on the 2021 budget after a delay of many weeks

The Minister of Finance sacks the Director General of Al-Rafidain Bank

Exclusive – Mawazine News… An official source in the Ministry of Finance stated, on Tuesday, that Finance Minister Ali Abdul Amir Allawi issued a decision to dismiss the General Manager of Al-Rafidain Bank, after contracting with an electronic payment company, without the minister’s approval.

In an interview with Mawazine News, the source said, “The Minister of Finance decided to dismiss the General Manager of Al-Rafidain Bank, Hussein Ali, from his position, and appointed Bilal Sabah, the director of the Industrial Bank, to replace him.”

He pointed out that “the decision came against the background of the dismissed bank’s manager signing a contract with the (Ishtar Gate) company to replace the (Key Card) electronic payment company even though the aforementioned company does not meet the conditions and special laws.” Ended 29 / p4

Mawazin.net

Planning announces submitting recommendations to the Cabinet on changing the currency rate

Baghdad / Al-Mawred News… The Ministry of Planning announced, on Thursday, that it will submit recommendations to the Council of Ministers regarding changing the currency rate on projects.

The ministry stated in a statement, “The committee formed according to Cabinet Resolution No. 63 of 2021, which will study the consequences of changing the currency exchange rate, held its first meeting at the Ministry of Planning,” noting that “the meeting was chaired by the Technical Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning, Maher Hammad.” And it was attended by the Administrative Agent Azhar Hussein Saleh, the President of the Iraqi Contractors Union, Ali Al-Sanafi, and representatives of the Ministries of Electricity, Finance, Housing, Reconstruction and Municipalities, the Central Bank of Iraq and the National Investment Commission.

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning confirmed that “this committee was formed to study the effects of changing the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, and to propose the required solutions, as far as the matter relates to investment projects, indicating that the committee’s work period will be one month, and after that it submits its recommendations to the Council of Ministers for decision. “.

He continued, “The representatives of the parties participating in the meeting presented a presentation of investment projects, methods of contracting with the implementing companies, and mechanisms for payment of the dues of these companies, whether those dues were unpaid debts or unspent advances,” indicating that “the committee will continue its meetings during the coming days, to lay down The required solutions and proposals, to address the effects of changing the exchange rate on investment projects.

Almawrid.news

A deputy specifies a method that would “force” the government to change the exchange rate

A member of the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, MP Mazen Al-Faili, confirmed that the parliament could reject the provision of raising the exchange rate in the budget, while specifying a method that he said would put the government before the option to amend it.

“The dollar exchange rate if it was rejected by most of the political blocs in the House of Representatives, the budget will be returned to the government in order to adjust the exchange rate and it will be forced,” Faily said in a televised interview.

He added, “There is no justification for raising the dollar’s ​​exchange rate with the rise in oil prices to $ 70.”

And a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar confirmed, on Sunday (07 March 2021), that the political movement is still continuing within the House of Representatives, with the presence of parliamentary signatures submitted to the Parliament in order to restore the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar or reduce the current price.

Cougar said in a press statement, “The political movement in this regard is still going on, even there are requests for the signatures of a large number of members of Parliament submitted to the Parliament for the sake of the dollar exchange rate.”

He added, “Those signatures remained unchanged, because the Finance Committee and Parliament do not have any authority to amend or return the exchange rate of the dollar,” stressing that “this matter is exclusively within the authority of the Central Bank.”

“It is difficult for the government to go in this direction, because changing the exchange rate or returning it to its previous price needs to be reformulated again,” he said.

Last Thursday, the representative of the Saeron Alliance, Riyad Al-Masoudi, confirmed that the Finance Committee in Parliament said that adjusting the exchange rate of the dollar must be done through a request submitted by Parliament to the Iraqi government.

Al-Masoudi said, in a press statement, that “the monetary policy, fiscal policy and economic policy are set by the Iraqi government in accordance with the Iraqi constitution,” indicating that “the invitation of the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hassan Al-Kaabi, for a parliamentary stand with the aim of reducing the exchange rate of the dollar, came after an intervention by Representative Inam Al-Khuzaie, It came within this context, and the session was not devoted to discussing the budget or the dollar exchange rate. ”

And that “Al-Kaabi stressed the need for the political forces to meet, on the issue of reviewing the exchange rate of the dollar, and this claim cannot be made individually from a deputy or a concerned bloc.”

He added that “there must be a request from the Iraqi Parliament, through the Finance Committee of the Iraqi government, to reconsider the issue of the dollar exchange rate, especially since the Finance Committee has representation from all political forces.” The dollar exchange will submit the request. ”

Earlier, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hassan Al Kaabi, called for a parliamentary pause to return to the previous dollar exchange rate.

Al-Kaabi said, according to an official statement during a session on Wednesday, that “the increase in the exchange rate of the dollar has a negative impact on the lives of the Iraqi citizen, and for economic stability in general.”

He added, “There is a need for a serious and urgent pause for all members of the House of Representatives and the Parliamentary Finance Committee to return to the previous exchange rate.”

In response to the parliamentary calls to amend the exchange rate, Finance Minister Ali Allawi said in a press interview that “the dollar exchange rate is a governmental decision that cannot be changed daily as desired,” indicating that “the markets have accepted the current exchange rate and will give incentives over the coming years to the private sector and strengthen the reserves. His expression.

The increase in the exchange rate caused an increase in the prices of imported goods, while members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that raising it to 1,450 dinars against the dollar had harmed citizens twice, first because it reduced the value of their salaries and also because it raised the prices of goods in the market.

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Kurdistan bloc joins the supporters of Al-Kazemi dialogue

Shafaq News / The head of the Kurdish Change Bloc in Parliament, Yusuf Muhammad, on Friday described the National Dialogue initiative as a “break of the ice” between the political parties.

Mohammed said in a statement today, that the initiative called by the Prime Minister is very important, especially at this time in which Iraq is suffering from economic and political crises, which coincided with the imminent holding of general elections.

He added that it is important to have a serious, constructive and frank dialogue between the parties and partners in the political process and the various components, in addition to the representatives of the sit-in squares in order to crystallize specific participants regarding the crises and how to get out of them in Iraq.

He indicated that one of the most prominent issues that can be discussed in the dialogue is the regional and international relations of Iraq, reaching common understandings and points regarding the country’s exclusion from these conflicts, crystallization of common ideas regarding how to hold early elections, preserving civil peace and integrity, and emphasizing the removal of weapons from it and from political conflicts.

The head of the Change Bloc added that it is necessary to establish some legal foundations based on the constitution in this dialogue to reach participants, especially in the relationship of the federal government with the region in matters such as oil and gas and the budget, in order to reach the legislation of the oil and gas law and an agreement to normalize the security and administrative conditions in the disputed areas.

Muhammad saw the National Dialogue initiative as a “breaking of the ice” existing between some political parties and representatives of components and finding solutions to some problems related to differences and conflicts, and creating the appropriate atmosphere for early elections.

On Monday (March 8, 2021), Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi issued a call to opponents of the government, for what he called an “open and frank dialogue” based on the country’s interest, security and sovereignty.

Shafaq.com

The Cabinet Secretariat sends lending mechanisms to the Central Bank of Iraq initiative

Alsumaria News – Today, Thursday, the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers sent to the Central Bank of Iraq a mechanism for granting loans to projects without interest or reduced interest by making use of the amounts allocated to finance these projects and supervising them with the aim of activating the private sector and facilitating its procedures.

The General Secretariat forCouncil of Ministers In a statement received by Alsumaria News, “The mechanisms stipulated that the Central Bank present a vision about the success of the salary settlement project and overcoming the challenges it faces in coordination with the competent banks, submitting it to the committee concerned with setting up the mechanisms, and studying the reported request in a letter Ministry of Labor And social affairs regarding the request to allocate an amount within the initiative The Central Bank of Iraq to me Labor Fund In the ministry; In order to grant loans to the unemployed registered in the database, as well as to support the owners of creative and innovative projects, from technical and legal aspects, in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training Department, and to present the results of the study within two weeks.

The statement added that “the mechanisms also included a study of the proposal of the advisory body and the notes of the competent banks on the adoption of private banks on par with government banks in the procedures for lending and to submit the necessary proposals regarding it.”

Alsumaria.tv