Parliamentary Finance Committee indicates a large budget deficit
A view of Baghdad, Iraq’s capital.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Parliamentary Finance Committee in Iraq announced on Sunday a large deficit in the 2024 budget, which has not yet been approved by the Iraqi government.
According to Uday Awad, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, voices calling for a reduction in public spending are being heard as a result of the high budget deficit, which has reached over 80 trillion dinars ($61.12 billion), which is stalling the revision to the budget legislation, according to Shafaq News.
Awad demonstrated that the number of projects that will be carried out in 2024 will be less than the ones initiated in 2023; as a result, only current projects will be included in the 2024 budget and no new projects will be included.
The inability to produce sufficient non-oil financial income and the resulting financial imbalance would prevent some governorates in Iraq from benefiting from new initiatives.
The spokesperson of the Iraqi government, Basem Al-Awadi, said on Saturday that the Council of Ministers will approve the 2024 budget within two weeks.
The Iraqi government decided to increase the budget for 2024 from 199 trillion Iraqi dinars (nearly $152 billion) to 228 trillion Iraqi dinars (approximately $174.04 billion), member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mouin Al-Kadhimi, stated last week.
Al-Kadhimi indicated that increasing the 2024 budget resulted in a rise in the deficit, revealing that the budget is still being discussed in the Council of Ministers and would likely be presented to the Iraqi Parliament next month.
According to Al-Kadhimi, changes caused a delay in the draft budget’s presentation to Parliament, which was scheduled for the end of 2023.