Clare: Parliamentary Finance sets the date for launching the budget
7/13/2023 Baghdad
Yesterday, Wednesday, the Federal Supreme Court issued a state order to stop six articles in the budget law, one of which deducts percentages from the salaries of state employees, while the other grants financial powers, while the Parliamentary Finance Committee suggested that budget funds be released on July 18.
For its part, the Parliamentary Finance Committee considered the delay in launching the budget “normal”, and the Ministry of Finance may launch work on the budget after July 18, calling on the government to end the electricity file by investing in natural gas.
A member of the Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, said, in an interview with the official newspaper, followed by “Al-Iqtisad News”, that “work on the budget will start after the 18th of this month, and the budget may be launched, and then the Finance Committee will start its work by following up on the disbursement process.”
He added, “The government was appealed by 12 paragraphs of the budget, and this is a natural matter and within its powers, and the matter now remains up to the Federal Court to consider appeals and submit a ruling,” noting that “the Finance Committee expected that some of the budget paragraphs would be appealed by the government, which was confirmed by the Minister of Finance.” However, the committee did its duty and added what it deems appropriate from the point of view of its members.
Regarding the electricity crisis, Cougar explained that “the government has put sums in the budget regarding Iranian gas dues, but the blockade on Iran by the United States prevents the money from arriving, calling on the government to invest in associated gas to end the crisis, to bypass the complications away from any external and internal interference.”
The court said, in its statement, that it “issued a state order number (153 / federal / state order / 2023) on 7/12/2023 that included stopping the implementation of several articles until the constitutional case filed before this court to challenge its constitutionality registered in the number (153 / federal / 2023).
According to the statement, the federation challenged Article (28/ Fourth: A-B), which is related to obligating the Ministry of Finance to collect one percent of a thousand of the total salary of state employees, except for the Ministry of Interior, to be placed in the Martyrs’ Fund of the Martyrs Foundation.
And Article (57/First-C) pertaining to the deduction of one percent per thousand of the total salary of military and civilian employees of the Ministry of Interior in favor of a newly established fund in the ministry called the “Internal Security Forces Development and Support Fund.”
And Article (65/Second), which stipulates that “university councils may contract with the private sector and hold participation in the field of building hospitals, investment laboratories, scientific productive factories, and agricultural and animal investments in a way that serves primary and higher studies, scientific research, and society.”
And Article (70/Second) related to adding additional allocations to the completed workloads for the governorates within the regions development plan, which are spent for the period from January 1, 2023 to June 1, 2023.
And Article (71) obliging the government to terminate the management of all institutions by proxy no later than November 30, 2023.
And Article (75), which stipulates “approving the date 12/31/2019 instead of 10/2/2019 by Cabinet Resolution 315 of 2019,” related to contract employees. LINK
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Clare: Parliamentary Finance: The price of the dollar will decrease after the implementation of the budget
7/12/2023 Baghdad..
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, confirmed, on Wednesday, that the price of the dollar will decrease against the dinar, after implementing the provisions of the federal general budget.
“The Iraqi dinar will gradually recover and decrease dramatically against the price of the dollar,” Cougar said, pointing out that “the government will have to sell large amounts of dollars to secure the salaries of employees in dinars.”
He added, “The exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel markets depends on the principle of supply and demand, and the start of implementation of the 2023 budget will mean the release of large sums of money that will lead to a greater increase in the purchase of the dollar.”
He pointed out that “after the implementation of the budget, there will be stability in the dollar exchange market and its arrival at the official price specified by the Council of Ministers.”
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Representative Mudar Al-Karawi, confirmed, in a previous statement to Al-Malooma, that there is a road map of 4 axes to curb the parallel market for selling the dollar. LINK
