Financial committee urges reduced budget

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The financial committee in the Iraqi Parliament on Tuesday presented a request calling for a reduced 2009 budget for some ministries. “During a meeting between the committee and officials from the Finance Ministry and the Board of Supreme Audit (BSA), a request has been made to reduce the budget of some ministries, including the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of State for National Security Affairs,” a committee member, Sami al-Atroushi, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The Ministry of National Security has called for the establishment of a headquarters at a cost of $10 billion U.S. dollars, a request that we rejected…,” Atroushi explained. Iraq’s 2009 federal budget, totaling $62 billion U.S. dollars, has not been approved thus far. The budget is based on an oil price of $50 a barrel. The Iraqi federal budget 2009 has not yet been approved. SS (P)/SR 1