Today, Saturday, the economic expert, Nabil Al-Marsoumi, identified the weak points and the deficit gap in the 2024 budget.
Al-Marsoumi said {to Al-Furat News} that: “We do not expect that the instructions for the 2024 budget schedules will take time to implement, especially since they went to the Iraqi facts, and once published, the Ministry of Finance will issue its instructions and the funds will be released.”
He added, “The 2024 budget tables contain clear weaknesses that could drown the country in debt, and the deficit gap in them is large. It will require the issuance of new cash in the amount of 20 trillion dinars and the deduction of transfers to the Central Bank.”
Al-Marusmi continued, “Its negative impact could have been reduced if investment allocations had been released from the suspended deposit amounts, which were supposed to be released regardless of the schedules.”
The economic expert expected that “the flow of funds into the governorates will begin and the completion of investment projects will begin, provided that the insurance amounts are released because the financial allocations to the governorates are insufficient and not commensurate with the needs of the governorates.”
On June 3, the House of Representatives voted to approve the schedules of the Federal General Budget Law 2024 after making amendments to a number of expenditure schedules and financial allocations for the development of the governorates.
The total financial budget amounted to 211.9 trillion dinars, equivalent to more than 153 billion dollars, an increase of 7% over the current year’s budget, and employee salaries, including 62 trillion dinars, a significant difference from last year, which amounted to about 59 trillion dinars.
The general revenues of the Iraqi state, according to the budget, amount to about 145 trillion dinars, which means recording a deficit of 66 trillion. The government says it will reduce the difference in the deficit from high oil prices.
One of the most prominent amendments to the current budget that was subject to scrutiny in Parliament’s Finance Committee is granting the government the authority to transfer funds between ministries, as well as various investment amounts for service and infrastructure projects throughout the country’s cities.
It became clear that the cost of public operating spending in the country had increased, as total employee salaries rose from 59.2 to 63.4 trillion dinars, an increase of 4.2 trillion dinars, and the costs of government care and subsidies increased from 24.5 to 26.9 trillion dinars, an increase of 2.4 trillion dinars.
alforatnews.iq
