Iraqi News Highlights and Points to Ponder Wednesday AM 2-21-24
The 2024 Budget Has Not Yet Been Implemented Because The Ministry Of Finance Has Not Completed The Schedules
February 21, 2024 Baghdad/Al-Masala Al-Hadath: In light of the difficult economic conditions facing Iraq, the importance of transparency and the right to access information emerges as essential tools in combating corruption and gaining citizens’ trust in the state.
Obtaining accurate information about the budget preparation process and spending details is a basic condition for achieving this goal.
However, government work in Iraq suffers from a lack of transparency and clarity in the budget preparation process. Although a long period of time has passed since the beginning of 2024, the year’s budget has not yet been implemented, due to the Ministry of Finance not completing the necessary schedules and the lack of clarity on the reasons for restricting disbursement to salaries and not other items, despite the abundance of available financial funds.
These conditions are considered an indicator of a lack of transparency in the budget preparation process, which increases ambiguity and creates mistrust between citizens and government authorities.
The budget preparation process must be open and transparent, with relevant documents and information provided to citizens and interested parties, in order to ensure everyone understands the priorities and financial details.
Analyzes indicate that the Iraqi government must enhance transparency, provide full access to information about the budget preparation process, clarify the reasons and justifications behind spending decisions, and determine financial priorities.
Complete transparency contributes to building confidence between the government and citizens, and enhances legitimacy and political and economic stability in Iraq.
Iraqi politician Raed Fahmi said that transparency and the right to access information are conditions for preventing corruption and gaining citizen confidence in the state. These two conditions are not met in the process of preparing the budget and identifying its items and spending.
He added: The 2024 budget has not been implemented yet because the Ministry of Finance has not completed the schedules, and ambiguity surrounds the reasons for limiting disbursement to salaries and nothing else, despite the financial abundance. https://almasalah.com/archives/83346
A Representative Accuses America Of Standing In The Way Of The Growing Iraqi Economy
Information / Baghdad.. Today, Wednesday, the representative of the State of Law coalition, Muhammad Al-Shammari, accused the United States of America of obstructing Iraq’s economic openness to international countries.
Al-Shammari told Al-Maalouma, “The United States of America stands as a stumbling block in the way of Iraqi economic growth, through its interventions that obstructed arming the Iraqi army, controlling oil imports through the US Federal Reserve, obstructing reconstruction, and concluding contracts with reputable international companies.”
He pointed out that “America contributed greatly to preventing the arrival of reputable international companies to Iraq.” LINK
Parliamentary Criticism Of The Delay In Sending The 2024 Budget Schedules
The first 02/21/2024 Baghdad: Hoda Al-Azzawi Members of the House of Representatives and observers of economic affairs criticized the government’s delay in sending the amended budget schedules for the current year 2024 for study and approval, despite the facilities it enjoys as it is part of a “tripartite budget” for three years and only needs some adjustments in the numbers of the expenditure and revenue chapters. We consider that violating the legal timings regarding the “budget” and even in other matters has become a “custom” in the country.
Article 77/Second of the Tripartite Federal Budget Law for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 stipulates that the House of Representatives shall be provided with updated tables for the 2024 budget in order to discuss the file of increase or decrease in the file of financial allocations according to the expected revenues and according to the fixed oil price.
The rapporteur of the Parliamentary Finance Committee for the fourth session, Dr. Ahmed Al-Saffar, said in an interview with “Al-Sabah” that “the failure of the financial authority in Iraq to adhere to the legal timings contained in Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 has become a custom.”
He pointed out that “despite the existence of a budget Trilogy and all the materials are ready, and the vote was taken to approve the general budget law over a period of three years, so these approved budgets need only some minor amendments annually due to the change in some indicators and numbers on which the general budget depends. However, it is noted that there is a reluctance, perhaps due to the lack of commitment of the financial institutions in Iraq.
By submitting or preparing these amendments that were supposed to be submitted and approved before 1/1/2024, and it seems that – as I mentioned above – it has become a norm among financial oversight of all kinds, whether parliamentary, independent, or even administrative oversight, in addition to the lack of the principle of accountability and accountability.
He added that “the executive authority is delayed annually in submitting the budget for political, and perhaps procedural, reasons related to elections, the parliamentary status, and the formation of the government,” indicating that “the failure to send the budget and its amendments before 1/1/2024 is due to the lack of transparency, the failure to submit final accounts, and the absence of periodic reports issued by the Ministry.” Finance on how public money is used.
Al-Saffar noted that “financial and economic reform must be given the utmost importance, and the reform must begin with state institutions, and work transparently on how to use public money and achieve legal security for the citizen within the framework of the federal general budget.”
Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Kujar, explained, in a press interview, that, “Until now we do not know when the government will send the schedules of the 2024 budget law? And what these schedules will include in terms of financial allocations for projects and other expenditures?
And we do not know what the deficit is within this budget.” ?”, indicating that “the government is required to expedite sending the details of the 2024 budget to the House of Representatives for the purpose of reviewing and studying it, and there is also the possibility of making amendments to it, as this is within the powers granted to Parliament.”
For his part, Representative Muthana Amin expected that the “amended” federal budget would be approved early next March. He stated that, “since the tenth of January, the relevant committees in the House of Representatives have begun reviewing and amending the draft of the federal budget law, and it is expected that it will be submitted to Parliament at the end of this month or the beginning of next March,” noting that it was “long overdue.” Edited by: Muhammad Al-Ansari https://alsabaah.iq/92191-.html
Parliament Finance Does Not Know The Date Of Sending The 2024 Budget!
Posted On 02-21-2024 By Sotaliraq The Finance Committee in the House of Representatives still does not know the date for approving the 2024 budget law, while it indicated that the government is required to expedite sending the details of the financial budget to Parliament for the purpose of reviewing and studying it.
Committee member Jamal Cougar said: “Until now, we do not know when the government will send the schedules of the 2024 budget law and what these schedules will include in terms of financial allocations for projects and other expenditures, and we do not know what the deficit is within this budget.”
Cougar stated, “The government is required to expedite sending the details of the 2024 budget to the House of Representatives for the purpose of reviewing and studying it. There is also the possibility of making amendments to it, as this is within the powers granted to Parliament.”
Member of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Taha Al-Rubaie, had revealed new details related to the amendments expected to occur in the financial budget for the current year, while noting that they include job grades and confirmation of contractors.
Al-Rubaie said, “The ministries have begun preparing the tables that they want to be included in the 2024 budget for the purpose of continuing to include them on the agenda for passage,” indicating that “the budget needs an amendment appendix through texts and tables.”
Al-Rubaie explained that “the deletion of job grades may be stopped in order to create appointments according to the grades of deletion and creation, in addition to continuing to confirm those who have completed two years to work as a contract, following the example of those who were previously confirmed.”
On (February 1, 2024), the Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed the latest developments in the financial budget for the year 2024, while indicating that it would rise to 206 trillion dinars instead of 199 trillion dinars.
Committee member Mustafa Al-Karaawi told the official agency, “Article 77/Second of the Tripartite Federal Budget Law for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 stipulates that the House of Representatives will be provided with updated tables for the 2024 budget in order to discuss the file of increase or decrease in the file of financial allocations according to expected revenues and according to the price of oil.” “The installer.”
He added, “The schedules are still being prepared in the Council of Ministers in preparation for approval, and the House of Representatives will begin discussing the budget after it arrives from the government. We believe that transmission must be accelerated because the delay may restrict the disbursement of operational and investment budgets in the coming days,” noting, “Disbursement is now limited to salaries.” Employees and their benefits directly.”
Al-Karaawi stressed that “the issue of updating the tables depends on the oil market and the quantities exported, on the basis of which the expected revenues will be calculated, and it is based on the size of expenditures and the percentage of the deficit,” pointing out that “there is a point of view that occurred in the 2023 budget according to the quantities that were spent and how to deal with… The deficit and revenues achieved, and it is assumed that there will be a growth in expenditures given that there is a growth in the operating budget, and there are contracts concluded in 2023 that have not been disbursed yet and must be added in the next budget.”
Regarding the appointments, he explained that they “may include contracts, firsts, holders of advanced degrees, and contracts for the 150,000 governorates that have not been implemented yet and which have been transferred to the 2024 budget.” LINK
Provoking Points To Ponder on Friendship
We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower, that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known that immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language holds its peace in impotence. – Joseph Roux
To have a good friend is one of the highest delights of life; to be a good friend is one of the noblest and most difficult undertakings. – Anonymous
There is no wilderness like a life without friends; friendship multiplies blessings and minimizes misfortunes; it is a unique remedy against adversity, and it soothes the soul. – Baltasar Gracian
There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. – Saint Thomas Aquinas
Man’s best support is a very dear friend. – Cicero
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