Saturday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 1-7-23
Parliament’s Legality Reveals The Reasons For The Delay In Approving The Budget: We Are Afraid Of This
2023.01.07 Baghdad – people On Saturday, the Parliamentary Legal Committee revealed the reasons for the delay in approving the 2023 budget.
“Nass” channel on Telegram.. our latest updates Committee member Raed al-Maliki said in a statement to the official newspaper, followed by “Nass” (January 7, 2023), that “the delay in approving the budget is due to political understandings and tensions between the blocs,” noting that “the Kurdistan region wants to include a paragraph in the next budget that serves it regarding financial allocations.” “.
Al-Maliki added that “dealing with the law and judicial decisions is dual, because the Federal Court obligated the Kurdistan region to hand over oil and gas and their revenues,” expressing his “fear that the political agreements may have included laws other than the budget.”
He explained that “the political parties are trying to pass their demands in accordance with the agreement that resulted in the formation of the current government,” noting that “the independent representatives are demanding things that they believe are in the interest of the Iraqi people, and the political agreements mean nothing to them because they are not parties to them.”
Professor of Economics at the University of Basra, Nabil Al-Marsoumi, expected earlier that the 2023 budget bill would not be sent to Parliament during the current month.
Al-Marsoumi said in a post followed by “Nass” (January 7, 2023), that “it seems that the 2023 budget bill will not be sent to parliament during the current month due to the lack of agreement on Kurdistan’s share and because of its large operating expenses.”
He added, “Hey, but in Iraq, the second year and beyond will end without a budget.”
https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=99998
Parties Are Trying To Pass Their Demands For The Budget, Taking Advantage Of The Agreement To Form The Government
Conscious / Parliamentary Legal: January 7, 2023 1 Views Conscious / Baghdad / g. M A member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Representative Raed al-Maliki, warned today, Saturday, that there are political parties trying to pass their demands in the budget in accordance with the agreement that resulted in the formation of the current government, while indicating that the Kurdistan region wants to include a paragraph in the next budget that serves it regarding financial allocations.
Al-Maliki said, in an interview carried out by a reporter (Iraqi Media News Agency / INA), that “the delay in approving the budget is due to political understandings and tensions between the blocs,” noting that “the Kurdistan region wants to include a paragraph in the next budget that serves it regarding financial allocations.”
He added, “Dealing with the law and judicial decisions is dual, because the Federal Court obligated the Kurdistan region to hand over oil and gas and their revenues,” expressing “fear that the political agreements may have included laws other than the budget.”
Al-Maliki explained, “The political parties are trying to pass their demands in accordance with the agreement that resulted in the formation of the current government,” noting that “the independent representatives are demanding things that they believe are in the interest of the Iraqi people, and the political agreements mean nothing to them because they are not parties to them.
Setting A Date For Sending It And Settling The Price Of Oil.. The 2023 Budget Is Still Far From Reach
Baghdad today – Baghdad Today, Saturday, the leader in the State of Law, Turki Al-Atbi, spoke about the latest developments in the Federal Financial Budget Law for the year 2023, stressing that sending it from the government to Parliament will be delayed until next February.
Al-Atbi said, to (Baghdad Today), that “the committees specialized in drawing up the items of the 2023 budget have completed most of the axes,” noting that “there are two paragraphs that have not been decided so far, which is the percentage of the Kurdistan region, and the addition of operating expenses after the recent decision of the Council of Ministers to add tens of thousands of Contracts to the owners of several ministries and government agencies.
And he added, “Sending the budget may be in February or March next, after resolving the two paragraphs, to be ready before the House of Representatives,” pointing out that “determining the price of a barrel of oil will be within a week from now, on a fixed basis, according to the information.”
And last week, the representative of the State of Law Coalition, Muhammad al-Shammari, told (Baghdad Today), that “the shape of the budget law for the year 2023 will be completely different from previous budgets.”
Al-Shammari explained, “The budget will focus on reforming the service, health and economic sectors and addressing poverty, and this matter is one of the first ministerial approaches to the government of Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani.”
And he indicated that “the price of a barrel of oil in the budget will be (65) dollars per barrel, and the exchange rate of the dollar will be (1145) dinars, and this matter will provide good sums to support service and economic reforms,” adding that “the Iraqi government will work to send the draft law to Parliament with the beginning of The new legislative term in the coming days.
Last week, the British newspaper “The Independent” on its Arabic website dealt with the issue of disagreements between the federal government and the Kurdistan region over the 2023 budget, with the end of 2022 without a financial budget for the country.
The newspaper stated in a report, seen by (Baghdad Today), that “the 2023 budget has caused a new crisis between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan region of Iraq, with its approval approaching at the beginning of the new year, as it has become a matter of contention, in light of the Kurdish delegations heading towards Baghdad, which adheres to the constitution to solve Those differences, while the region hopes that political understandings and consensus will result in returning its share to 17 percent in the current year’s budget instead of 12.67 percent due to the population density in the region.
According to the report, a member of the Kurdistan Region Parliament, Hevidar Ahmed, confirmed, on Thursday, December 29, the continuation of the dispute between the region and the federal government regarding the budget. He said in a press statement, “The dispute revolves around the region’s share in the budget, and there are large financial obligations to the region that must be taken into account in the general budget,” explaining that “sending the amount of 400 billion dinars will be the first step to resolving the dispute.”
On the other hand, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Wafaa Muhammad, revealed the Kurdistan region’s share of the financial budget for the next year, and also talked about the impact of the differences between the “Democratic Party” (Parti) and the “Patotic Union of Kurdistan” (Al-Yakti) on the nature of the negotiations with Baghdad. .
Muhammad said in a press statement, “There is almost an agreement between the Kurdistan region and the central government regarding the share of the Kurdish component of the financial budget law for the year 2023.” He added, “The region’s share will be 14 percent, and it was almost certainly agreed upon during the last Kurdish delegation’s visit to the capital, Baghdad.”
Regarding the impact of the differences between the Parti and Alekti on the negotiations with the central government, he explained that “the differences between the Union and the Democratic Party are within the Kurdistan region and will not affect the understandings and negotiations with Baghdad.”
The former member of the House of Representatives, Fadel Al-Fatlawi, revealed earlier that the approval of the financial budget law had been delayed for more than a month, and while he attributed this to reasons, including the differences between Baghdad and Erbil, he confirmed the existence of understandings within the “dark rooms” to reach an agreement.
According to the newspaper, the “State of Law Coalition” (led by Nuri al-Maliki) ruled out increasing the share of the Kurdish component in the financial budget for next year, while setting a date for its approval in Parliament.
The leader of the coalition, Wael al-Rikabi, said, “The financial budget law will be approved in the second month of next year, because when it reaches parliament, it needs a period of not less than 45 days to discuss its paragraphs.” He added, “The House of Representatives will study it, and it is possible to reject some paragraphs and return them to the government again for correction,” noting that “February 2023 will witness a vote on the financial budget.”
He stated that “the arrival of the budget to the House of Representatives, and according to what was reported by the Ministry of Finance, it is prepared and ready, it will be at the end of this month or early next year,” noting that “the share of Erbil and contrary to the expectations of some will remain as it was in the past,” noting that ”
On the other hand, Member of Parliament Souad al-Maliki indicated that the delay in completing the federal budget law was due to the confirmation of service contracts and projects.
In turn, the head of the “National Wisdom Movement” Ammar al-Hakim stressed, during his meeting with the head of the “Patriotic Union of Kurdistan” Pavel Talabani, to solve the problems between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region through dialogue and the constitution.
Al-Hakim’s media office stated in a statement that “the two sides exchanged views on the Iraqi reality, while Al-Hakim stressed the importance of supporting the government and standing with it so that it can bridge the relationship between the citizen and the political forces.” And duties, as well as the adoption of the constitution to solve outstanding problems.
In the context, the political and economic researcher, Saleh Lafta, said, according to The Independent Arabia, that “signs of disagreements between the center and the Kurdistan region appear to the public in all important draft laws or when approving the state’s general budget,” noting that “there are two basic and fundamental points of disagreement that are renewed at a time Approval of the federal budget, the first of which is the percentage of the region’s share due to the difference over the region’s share in the budget and on what basis it is determined, as the area and population are taken into account in the amount of the allocated amounts, which raises objections from the federal government and political blocs on the grounds that the allocated funds are exaggerated.
He completed the gesture, “The second is the extent of the Kurdistan region’s commitment to handing over the oil imports that the region exports to the public treasury of the Iraqi state and paying its debts to the federal government for the oil that was exported in previous years. As for the rest of the matters, they are mere formalities, such as the salaries of the region’s employees or the Peshmerga and the border crossings, It will not hinder any agreement if the issue of the region’s share and oil imports is resolved.”
He added, “The dialogues of the last days and hours are the ones that will resolve the differences and pass the budget, and each party will take what it wants as each time, and the intersections and differences will return again in the coming years, and each party holds the other responsible, as officials in the Kurdistan region see that the objections are renewed due to political motives and have no basis.” It is legal for her and that the government and political forces are the ones who are negligent because they did not implement the federal oil and gas law that will regulate the fair distribution of wealth among the Iraqi people, while the other objecting party believes that the Kurdistan region does not abide by the constitution.
According to Lafta, “the problem has not been finally resolved, but rather it is transferred to the future, like all constitutional articles that need consensus and a solution. This is the reality. There is no final solution, but rather temporary solutions to all problems.” Edit: A.F LINK
