KTFA:
Henig: Parliamentary Finance officially concludes discussion of the draft general budget law
Sunday 16 , April 2023
Baghdad / Nina / The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced the official completion of the discussion of the draft general budget law and referred to the Presidency of the House of Representatives to be included in the agenda for the second reading.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, announced the holding of the next session on Sunday evening, and it will be dedicated to the second reading of the draft federal budget law. LINK
Clare: Approving it after the Eid”.. Shankali: The leaders of the state administration agree to pass the budget
4/16/2023
The representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Bloc, Majed Shankali, suggested that there would be disagreements regarding the 2023 budget law, after the second reading, which the Iraqi parliament intends to conduct today, Sunday.
Shankali told Shafaq News agency; “The technical observations are clear so far and include the large spending volume of 199 trillion dinars, which is a very large number, and the deficit rate is also very large, and the budget law includes three years, and this is for the first time in Iraq.”
He added, “The price of a barrel of oil is fixed in the law at $70, and everyone knows that oil is a renewable commodity, and its price depends on the political and economic reality, regional and international problems and conflicts, and many things, meaning its future prices cannot be predicted.”
He suggested that “political differences over the budget law may appear after the completion of the second reading and after the feast in particular,” pointing out that “the coalition of state administration with all its leaders agreed on approving the budget and other matters, but nevertheless some differences and bargaining will certainly appear.”
“The budget will be passed after the Eid holiday.”
Today, Sunday, the Iraqi Council of Representatives intends to hold a session, the second reading of the Federal Budget Law for the year 2023 has been included on its agenda. LINK
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Clare: Saleh: Iraq’s exit from the list of the most indebted to the “International Monetary” is an attractive factor for investment
4/16/2023
The Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, considered that Iraq’s exit from the list of countries most indebted to the International Monetary Fund is an attractive element for investment, as it greatly raises the creditworthiness of Iraq.
Saleh said, “Iraq’s exit from the list of countries most indebted to the International Monetary Fund raises the creditworthiness of Iraq significantly in the list of the most worthy countries,” adding that “this is an attractive element for investment on the one hand, and on the other hand, all international contracting that takes place in Iraq.” It reduces the risks of affecting project costs, in addition to positive repercussions on all external business costs associated with the Iraqi economy.
And he noted that “Iraq, since the (Paris Club) agreement signed on 11/21/2004 by former Finance Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi at the time, got rid of 100 billion dollars of its debt, i.e. 80% was reduced, and the volume of debt was about 130 billion dollars. $100 billion was deducted from it according to the agreement, as I mentioned above, and the remainder was scheduled for 20 years, with a six-year grace period,” according to the official newspaper.
The advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs confirmed that “Iraq is committed to fulfilling its debts, whether to companies or creditor countries, and there is great cooperation between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Iraq in paying the installments with their benefits and on time, and since 2009 Iraq began paying the interests, and in 2011 it began paying the installments with their benefits.” .
A report issued by the International Monetary Fund last week indicated that there are 19 countries with debts exceeding one billion US dollars (not including Iraq), out of the total number of creditor countries from the United Nations Economic Foundation, which is 94 countries. LINK
