Finance announces the imminent sending of the 2024 budget schedules to Parliament and pledges the release of Kurdistan salaries on one condition

Shafaq News / Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, announced on Monday that the 2024 budget schedules will soon be sent to Parliament.

This came while hosting Sami in the Finance Committee, according to what was reported by Shafaq News Agency correspondent.

The minister stated that “employees’ salaries for the year 2024 are fully insured,” noting that “the release of employees’ salaries in the Kurdistan Region during the current month is subject to submitting lists of names, and we have stipulated nationalization to disburse them during the coming months.”

She continued, “We have begun launching financing for the operational budget,” adding, “Soon we will send the 2024 budget schedules to the Council of Ministers for approval and sending them to Parliament.”

For his part, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mustafa Sanad, told Shafaq News Agency, “The Parliamentary Finance Committee hosted Finance Minister Taif Sami to discuss a number of topics, including financing the operational budget for the year 2024.”

Sanad explained, “The Minister informed the members of the committee that there is no interruption in funding the budget with regard to operations and salaries of employees.”

Sanad continued, “With regard to the salaries of employees in the Kurdistan Region, and after the Federal Court’s decision, this month’s salaries will be financed in the usual way through direct transfers. As for March salaries, the salaries of the region’s employees will be financed through the localization of salaries.”

He concluded by saying, “Funding the salaries of employees in the region will be through the governorates, meaning that the governorate that submits its data directly before the other will localize the salaries of its employees faster.”

Yesterday, Sunday, the Finance Committee in the Iraqi Parliament revealed that it will host the Minister of Finance tomorrow, Monday, to discuss the localization of the salaries of Kurdistan Region employees and the delay in distributing salaries throughout the country.

This comes after the Iraqi Ministry of Finance confirmed that it has taken measures and procedures to secure salary funding on an ongoing basis according to the 2024-2025 budget, denying at the same time political statements that indicated the lack of “financial liquidity.”

It is noteworthy that the Federal Supreme Court (the highest judicial authority in Iraq) decided, on February 21, to oblige the Federal Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government to settle the salaries of employees and workers in the public sector in the region with federal banks.

The court also decided to oblige the submission of the monthly budget for the region’s employees to the Federal Ministry of Finance, while requiring the region’s Council of Ministers to hand over all oil and non-oil revenues to the federal government.

The ruling stressed that the decision to localize the salaries of the region’s employees is final and binding.

Shafaq.com

During 2023.. Iraq spent 7 trillion more than its revenues, and 40% of its expenses went to salaries

Al-Sumaria News – Economy… The Iraqi state’s accounts for the past year, 2023, revealed the volume of spending and revenues, and the distribution of spending method, as employee salaries constituted the largest volume of spending and amounted to 40%, while the industrial sector topped the investment spending file during the past year. According to the data seen by Al-Sumaria News, Iraq spent more than 142 trillion Iraqi dinars during the past year 2023, while its revenues amounted to more than 135 trillion dinars, meaning that the deficit rate is 5%, or in other words, Iraq spent 7 trillion more than its revenues. Dinar.

Current expenditures represented 83% of total public spending, while investment spending constituted 17% of total spending, amounting to more than 24 trillion dinars.

The industrial sector topped the investment spending file at 11 trillion dinars, which constitutes 45% of total investment spending.

Employee salaries constituted the largest proportion of spending, amounting to more than 57 trillion dinars, equivalent to 40% of total spending.

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50 arrest and summons orders were issued against Iraqi officials and representatives in a month

Shafaq News / The Information and Communication Office of the Federal Integrity Commission announced on Sunday the total arrest and recruitment orders issued and executed against those with high and special ranks during the month of last January.

He stated in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency that the judicial authorities issued 50 arrest and summons orders against 46 people with high and special ranks. Against the background of cases investigated by the Commission’s investigation directorates and offices in Baghdad and the governorates and referred to the judiciary, explaining that 39 recruitment orders and 11 arrest orders were issued for the period from (1-31/2024/1).

He added that the orders included two former ministers, a former minister, two members of the House of Representatives (current and former), a former deputy minister, (11) current general directors, (8) former and (3) former, in addition to a current governor, and (12) former governors, (2) former governors, and (3) former members of the governorate councils.

Shafaq.com

The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government arrives in Washington on an official visit

Shafaq News / The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, arrived on Sunday in Washington, DC, on an official visit.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that Barzani arrived in Washington today, after receiving an official invitation to visit the United States.

Barzani heads a high-ranking government delegation during this visit, and is scheduled to hold several meetings with American officials to discuss strengthening relations between the two sides and the latest developments in the region.

Shafaq.com

State of law: America transfers to Iraq its money mortgaged in the Federal Bank

Information / Baghdad… On Sunday, member of the State of Law coalition, Rasoul Radi, accused the United States of America of working to harm the Iraqi economy.

Radi told Al-Maalouma, “The American administration is working to harm the economic interests of Iraq, by placing the revenues from Iraqi oil sales in the US Federal Bank.”
He added, “Iraq gets its money from the Americans using the (distillation) method when needed.”

He promised, “The Iraqi economy is hostage to the US Federal Reserve, which controls the most important revenues that the Iraqi government relies on to finance the budget.”

Almaalomah.me

During 2023.. Iraq spent 7 trillion more than its revenues, and 40% of its expenses went to salaries

Al-Sumaria News – Economy… The Iraqi state’s accounts for the past year, 2023, revealed the volume of spending and revenues, and the distribution of spending method, as employee salaries constituted the largest volume of spending and amounted to 40%, while the industrial sector topped the investment spending file during the past year. According to the data seen by Al-Sumaria News, Iraq spent more than 142 trillion Iraqi dinars during the past year 2023, while its revenues amounted to more than 135 trillion dinars, meaning that the deficit rate is 5%, or in other words, Iraq spent 7 trillion more than its revenues. Dinar.

Current expenditures represented 83% of total public spending, while investment spending constituted 17% of total spending, amounting to more than 24 trillion dinars.

The industrial sector topped the investment spending file at 11 trillion dinars, which constitutes 45% of total investment spending.

Employee salaries constituted the largest proportion of spending, amounting to more than 57 trillion dinars, equivalent to 40% of total spending.

Alsumaria.tv

A representative calls on the government to expedite sending amendments to the budget schedules to Parliament

Information / Baghdad… On Sunday, Member of the House of Representatives, Muhammad Al-Zayadi, called on the government to expedite sending the current year’s budget schedules to Parliament for approval.

Al-Ziyadi told Al-Maalouma, “Many service sectors and infrastructure projects have stopped due to the lack of financial funding.”

He added, “The government was very late in sending the budget schedules to the House of Representatives to vote on the amendments the government made to the previous schedules.”

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Representative Moeen Al-Kadhimi, confirmed to Al-Ma’louma that the government is supervising the completion of the amendments to the tables for the current year’s budget due to the increase in allocations for the ration card and social care and the increase in oil production costs.

Almaalomah.me

Parliamentary Finance reveals the latest developments in the 2024 budget and the reason for its delay

Alsumaria News – Politics… The head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, revealed today, Saturday, the reasons for the delay in approving the 2024 budget schedules, while indicating that the funds for the localization of the salaries of Kurdistan Region employees will be deducted from the 12.6% allocated to the Kurdistan Region of the budget.

Al-Atwani told Al-Sumaria News, “The Federal Court’s decision to oblige the government to settle the salaries of Kurdistan region employees in Iraqi banks comes to isolate the rights of the citizen and keep them away from political disputes and financial disputes with the region,” noting that the amounts will be taken from the 12.67% that represents the Kurdistan region’s share in The budget is outside the actual spending on the condition that the salaries of the region’s employees are localized to avoid job duplication and duplication of the citizen’s work and it is a clear database for the Ministry of Finance.

Regarding the 2024 budget spending schedules, Al-Atwani confirmed that Parliament is awaiting the receipt of the budget schedules from the government after the government adjusts its position regarding the amount of spending it needs during the current year, and it is likely that the schedules will arrive within two weeks.

He stated that the reasons for the delay in the schedules are due to the need for some spending sections to review and approve the spending plan for the current year for governorates and institutions, indicating that public expenditures are expected to rise during this year compared to the 2023 budget as a result of the entry of new projects.

He considered that if the government was able to adjust its expenditures according to amendments in the schedules only, then the matter would be decided in Parliament within a short time, but if the government decided to make amendments to the original budget, this would enter into the process of legislation, considering that the deficit might rise with the rise in expenditures, but it remains dependent on the size of revenues. The higher the revenue, the lower the deficit.

Alsumaria.tv

The disappearance of 1.2 trillion dinars… The Iraqi printed currency declined as the third largest decline recorded in 20 years

Al-Sumaria News – Special… Data from the Central Bank of Iraq shows a decrease in the amount of printed currency by 1.2 trillion dinars between the months of November and December 2023, while Al-Sumaria News concluded, through a historical review of the printed currency, that this decrease in the amount of currency is the third largest decrease recorded in 20 years.

According to data obtained by Al-Sumaria News, the total amount of “printed” currency in Iraq until December 2023 amounted to 101.4 trillion Iraqi dinars, a decrease from the amount of currency that was present in Iraq in November 2023, which then amounted to 102.6 trillion Iraqi dinars.

This means that the amount of printed currency decreased by 1.2 trillion dinars, which is supposed to have “disappeared,” and the only way to do this is usually for the Central Bank of Iraq to destroy this currency, and it usually compensates for it by printing another currency.

Al-Sumaria News reviewed historical data for currency printing in Iraq, and it was found that the printing and quantity of currency takes an upward trend every month, and the quantity of currency rarely decreases, as printing continues, which increases the quantity of currency, but destruction is the least common act.

The data shows that the largest recorded decrease in the amount of the Iraqi currency since 2004 until now was between June and July 2014, when the decrease reached 2 trillion dinars, and then between November and December 2015, with a decrease of 1.4 trillion dinars, and also between May and June 2021, with a decrease of 1.4 trillion dinars. .

The latest decline between December and November 2023 comes as the third largest decline in the amount of currency printed within one month, amounting to 1.2 trillion dinars, since 2004 until now, that is, 20 years ago. It also comes among only 6 similar declines, amounting to more than one trillion dinars within a month, for twenty years.

Alsumaria.tv

A British newspaper reveals new American influence in Iraq through trade and economics

Information… A British GSI report revealed, on Saturday, that some Iraqi merchants and companies are seeking to expand American political and economic influence in the country.

The report, translated by the Maalouma Agency, stated that “a number of Iraqi importers expressed their desire for American suppliers, under the pretext of the poor quality of Chinese goods, and requested assistance in finding American companies to replace them.”

He added, “These requests from Iraqi importers came in the fields of electronics, vehicles, medicines, medical supplies, heavy machinery, industrial and manufacturing equipment, mining, extraction and processing systems, and communications infrastructure.”

He continued, “Unfortunately, and shockingly, major American companies are not interested and are not equipped to sell in the fastest growing markets in the Middle East. This is bad business. Moreover, the fact that Iraqi importers are specifically trying to find American companies to replace their suppliers.” “It also means something bad geopolitically for the Chinese.”

The report pointed out that “the problem lies in some American companies that do not want to sell to the Iraqis under the pretext of political fluctuations between the two countries, and they must buy from regional distributors in the Middle East.” In some cases, when I requested product demos in person for Iraqi importers visiting the United States, the requests were rejected outright and referred back to the regional funnel. What makes matters worse is that some distributors of American companies in the Middle East are not willing to sell products to Iraqi buyers because Iraq is not currently on our priority list, according to their claims.

Almaalomah.me