URGENT: ECONOMY / Iraq’s 2011 Budget for 96 trillion (t) Iraqi Dinars – (US$85.7 billions (b) approx) passed:

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq‘s State Budget for 2011 has recorded 96 trillion (t) Iraqi Dinars (US$85.7 billions (b) approx), with a deficit of 15 trillion (t) dinars (US$13.4 billion (b) approx), along with abolishing of the personal benefits for the country’s three leading Presidencies, i.e. the Presidency of the Republic, the Prime Minister’s and the Parliament’s special allocations, Parliament Speaker, Usama al-Nujeify said on Sunday. “The 2011 Budget has reached 96 trillion (t) Iraqi dinars (US$85.7 billion (b) approx), with a deficit of 15 trillion (t) dinar (US$13.4 billion (b) approx),” Nujeify told a news conference, attended by IraqiNews.com news agency, adding that “the thing that had been noticed about the new budget had been the complete cancellation of the social benefits for the three Presidencies, the supporing of employment, investment, the Rational Card, the development of Iraq‘s different Regions with allocations deducted from the commissioning allocations, reaching 4% of the budget, i.e. 3 trillion (t) dinars,” Nujeify said. The Parliament Speaker pointed out that “the current policy is concentrating on the reduction of commissioning costs, the increase of the investment allocations, along with the financial support for the government’s “Rationing Card,” contents of which would be distributed fully on all citizens. The Iraqi parliament on Sunday had unanimously approved Iraq’s federal state budget for the year 2011, ending its session to convene on Monday after voting over all items in the budget, an Iraqi legislator said. “Debates over all the items of the 2011 state budget were completed in today’s (Sunday) session,” Ala’a Mikki, a lawmaker from al-Iraqiya bloc, told IraqiNews.com news agency. The Iraqi cabinet had approved in a session on Feb.2 the final draft budget for the year 2011. Ahmed al-Abbasi, a member of the National Alliance, had said on Sunday that the parliament voted over canceling all social benefits for the three top posts – the President, Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker. He said the Pparliament also decided to distribute the 20% surplus from the budget over citizens in the form of grants. IT / SKH 1672