The Iraqi government determines the percentage of budget deficit and deductions of salaries of employees

The Ministry of Finance said on Thursday that the real budget deficit planned for the current year 2018 amounted to more than 19 trillion dinars, not 12 trillion.

The Ministry of Finance Undersecretary, Maher Hammad Johan, said in a statement today that the deficit was due to the increase in the volume of expenses and the reduction of tax revenues by about 300 billion dinars, as well as spend two trillion dinars to secure the suspension of the deduction rate of 3.8% of the salaries of state employees that were in force During the past years, pointing out that the security expenditure of 1.4 trillion dinars has not been reduced, as well as increased quotas of the provinces of border crossings to more than trillion dinars.

He added that there are amounts that did not appear in the budget, which are more than 500 billion dinars, and these guarantees should be paid to their owners, pointing out that there are allocations of emergency amounted to 3 trillion dinars had to be launched on October 1, but launched before its history to secure the requirements of services in the provinces, Indicating that the Ministry of Finance is paying the dues of the debts and the benefits borrowed by the government during the financial crisis to provide salaries of state employees and amounted to the amount paid during this year 12 trillion dinars as a result of increased debt payments and dues

He pointed out that the volume of oil exports of 100 million barrels per month and a daily production rate of 3.2 million barrels per day and the price of $ 64 a barrel and these prices are $ 7 less than the prices of Brent crude standard and determined by monthly contracts that are affected by global prices, and we did not receive Something from the Kurdistan region oil.

He pointed out that the dues of oil companies are paid in kind of oil and not through the proportion of deficit planned in the budget, noting that the increase in oil prices at the rate of $ 64 a barrel helped the government not to go to borrow

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance that his ministry is providing a minimum of 6 trillion dinars in anticipation of the worst circumstances and this amount would secure the salaries of state employees and other important expenses for three months in case of emergency.

He called on the competent parliamentary committees, or regulatory or audit, to check all figures announced by the ministry with high transparency, stressing that the direction of the state now moving towards restoring support to the private sector and move the economic cycle in order to change the course of imports, which drain a lot of money.

Article Credit: https://www.faceiraq.net/
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