KTFA:
Clare: Ministry of Planning: More than 41 trillion dinars is the amount of money available to the governorates in 2024
Today, Saturday, the Ministry of Planning revealed the total financial allocations and amounts available to the governorates during the current year 2024.
The Ministry explained, in a statement, a copy of which was received by {Al-Furat News}, that: “The allocations of the Regional Development Program and the undisbursed amounts, of which the amount of the remaining funds for the year 2023, registered as deposits with the Ministry of Finance, amounted to (6,947,433) trillion dinars, in addition to the remainder of Food security restricted deposits in the governorates (5,824,403) trillion dinars, totaling (15,875) trillion dinars, and this amount is added to the size of the investment allocations to the governorates within the 2024 budget submitted to the House of Representatives, amounting to (3,103,158), noting that these allocations include a development program Territories, petrodollars, anti-poverty, and loans.
She added, “In addition, what was allocated to the projects of the federal ministries that are implemented in the governorates, excluding the region, amounted to (38,421) trillion dinars, and thus the total amounts available to the governorates reach (41,524) trillion dinars.”
The Ministry stressed that, “Based on the above, the comparison that appeared in the media, between the regional development allocations for the governorates, and the total investment spending for the Kurdistan region, is an incorrect comparison. Rather, the comparison should have been made between the total investment spending for the governorates coming from investment spending.” for the ministries, which amounts to (41,524) trillion dinars), and what has been allocated in the total investment spending for the region, which amounts to (4,875) trillion dinars,” stressing “the government’s commitment to the percentage allocated to the region, in all sections of spending.”
She pointed out, “Based on the Tripartite Budget Law (2023-2025) and the Financial Management Law of 2019, unspent amounts are recorded as deposits with the governorates or the Ministry of Finance, and local governments can spend them on projects in accordance with the mechanisms approved in this aspect, and these amounts are added to the allocations.” The financial allocations allocated to the governorates within the 2024 budget,” noting that “there are other amounts that will be allocated to the governorates, coming from the revenues of the border crossings, as most of the governorates enjoy this advantage, with the presence of land, air, or sea ports in them, as well as the financial allocations allocated to the funds in their various specializations, which are Funds for the reconstruction of Dhi Qar and Sinjar, the affected areas, and support for the poorest areas, amounting to about (2) trillion dinars.”
The Ministry added, “The indicators proven during previous years indicate that the highest percentage of spending for the governorates did not exceed more than (4.2) trillion dinars, during the year 2022, as the spending was made according to the actual work peaks with no budget approved in that year, and therefore the presence of… Of this large cash mass, available to the governorates, the spending units will not be able to spend more than 30% of it at best, according to the executive capabilities of the governorates.”
She stated, “The directives of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani were always supportive of the efforts of local governments, enabling them to fulfill their financial obligations, complete their basic projects, and include new projects, noting that the House of Representatives transferred (4.7) trillion dinars in the budget.” Last year, 2023, from the Ministries of Electricity and Oil, to the governorate budgets in Table (E) as additional amounts to what the government allocated at the time, which was (5.2) trillion dinars, which forced the government and Parliament to borrow and set texts to add allocations to cover the transferred amounts, which increased the deficit resulting from this procedure”.
The ministers confirmed that “the apparent differences in the allocations to the Kurdistan region include the sovereign investment budget, including licensing rounds for the Kurdistan region, amounting to (2.7) trillion dinars, which will not be spent to stop the export of oil from the region, according to the decision of the Federal Court, and that disbursement to the Kurdistan region is conditional on the export of oil by ( SOMO) and hand over the region’s oil imports to the Ministry of Finance.” LINK
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Clare: Government breakdown of 2024 budget schedules: Spending will contribute to reducing the deficit
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, confirmed today, Saturday, that the variables of the financial tables conform to the constants of the tripartite budget, while indicating that the spending pattern will contribute to reducing the deficit.
Saleh said, “The announcement of the financial schedule variables for the year 2024 was in accordance with the constants adopted by Law No. 13 of 2023, the Federal (Tripartite) General Budget Law, especially with regard to the hypothetical deficit, which amounts to approximately 64 trillion dinars.”
He explained: “There are important trends in the management of the public budget, whether in addition to public expenditures, as the spending ceiling reached 211 trillion dinars, or revenues and deficits.”
He pointed out that “oil prices are still higher than their estimates in the tripartite budget of $70 per barrel, with a positive change rate of more than 16 percent above the approved price, and we are approaching the middle of the fiscal year while maintaining the export rates approved in the budget and managing oil production efficiently and accurately.” “In accordance with international agreements with OPEC regarding control over production quotas.”
He added: “There is high discipline in maximizing non-oil revenues, especially tax and customs revenues, specifically after adopting automation, modern methods and information technology in tax and customs assessment, estimation and collection.”
He pointed to “striving to impose discipline on operational expenditures and keep spending on them within acceptable minimum limits, in addition to ensuring that the efficiency of investment spending and the operation of all approved projects is increased, in order to ensure a high growth rate in the gross domestic product at a rate exceeding twice the rate of population growth, by launching the project movement.” New without delay or stop.
He stressed that “the pattern of public spending, in accordance with the schedules announced, is characterized by accuracy, objectivity, and self-savings, which contributes to reducing the resort to financing the actual deficit, even when needed, through internal borrowing and within limits that ultimately do not exceed the accepted international standard percentage for financing the deficit, which amounts to 3 percent.” of the country’s total gross domestic product. LINK
