“Tidbits From TNT” Wednesday Morning 1-8-2025
TNT:
Tishwash: Article 12 obstructs budget schedules and Parliament is unaware of the size of expenditures and deficit
Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Kojer, expected on Tuesday that the budget tables would be sent in February, while he pointed out the possibility of delaying its passage due to disagreements over Article 12.
Kocher said in a statement to Shafaq News, "The Iraqi law requires the Council of Ministers to send the state's general budget to the House of Representatives in the ninth or tenth month of each year, but this has not happened in the past years."
Koger expected that the budget tables for the year 2025 would be sent to the Council at the beginning of next February, but the disagreements over Article 12 of the budget law may delay sending the tables from the government to Parliament.
Koger added that "the House of Representatives and members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee do not have any knowledge of the details of the budget schedules for the year 2025," noting that they do not "know the size of the budget in terms of operating and investment expenses and the deficit rate so far."
Article 12 of the draft budget law includes compensation for the Kurdistan Regional Government for the costs of production and transportation of oil extraction in the region.
It is noteworthy that the representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc, Jiay Timur, confirmed earlier to Shafaq News Agency, that "the Iraqi government previously calculated in the budget law the cost of extracting oil at $6, and this is a very small number," noting that "foreign companies that work on extracting oil at a cost of up to $26 per barrel."
In June 2023, the Iraqi Parliament voted on the draft general budget law for the fiscal years (2023, 2024, 2025). link
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Tishwash: Iraq and America discuss the existing partnership between the two countries and enhancing cooperation
Today, Tuesday, the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, discussed with the Chargé d'Affairs of the US Embassy in Baghdad, Ms. Elizabeth Trudeau, in the presence of the Director of the Political Section at the Embassy, Ms. Michelle Siders, the general situation in Iraq, and ways to enhance cooperation and existing partnership between the two countries.
The media office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives stated in a statement received by "Kalima News": "During the meeting, the general situation in Iraq was discussed, and ways to enhance cooperation and existing partnership between the two countries, with emphasis on the United States' support for Iraq in various fields, in a way that enhances stability and development."
According to the statement, the meeting also discussed "a number of topics of common interest, including developments in the regional situation and their effects on the Iraqi arena."
Dr. Al-Mashhadani stressed the importance of strengthening relations between Iraq and the United States within the framework of common interests, stressing the need to continue dialogue and cooperation to support Iraq's stability and continue efforts to confront political and economic challenges. link
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Tishwash: Iraqi economy enters "dark tunnel" and MPs are concerned about the delay in sending budget tables
Warnings are increasing that Iraq will face major economic difficulties during the current year and the coming years, for reasons most notably its reliance on oil as the sole source of the financial budget and the lack of alternatives, especially with the increase in population.
Experts confirm that the failure to diversify the country's sources of income and invest oil revenues in providing job opportunities and producing goods and services threatens to spread unemployment among young people, while fluctuating oil prices threatens the country's economic and financial stability.
In this regard, economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi warned today, Monday, of Iraq entering a dark and critical economic tunnel due to wrong policies, which affects the vulnerable and middle-income classes.
Al-Marsoumi said in an interview with Al-Maalouma Agency, “Iraq has begun to enter a dark and critical tunnel due to wrong economic policies, failure to provide job opportunities, and resorting to appointments, and here lies the dilemma,” indicating that "When the state is late in paying salaries, the general economic movement and all components of the private sector and the fragile and middle classes will be affected."
He added, "There is a lack of economic development and a development vision, and therefore things will continue as they are, and whenever oil prices decline, Iraq will find itself in the midst of great difficulties." He explained that "the increase in population requires raising public spending, while revenues are stagnant as a result of relying on oil as the sole resource for the budget and the failure to use its revenues to build a diversified economy that produces goods and services."
He points out that "there is no short-term solution and the government may resort to deducting a percentage of the Central Bank's transfers and borrowing from domestic banks, and the real solution lies in providing new financial sources other than oil," noting that " Continuing things as they are now will lead to a major problem and unemployment among young people will increase in the coming years.”
The 2025 budget has not yet been approved, while MPs confirm that the budget schedules have not been sent to the House of Representatives.
MP Ahmed Al-Sharmani expressed his concern today, Monday, regarding the delay in sending the 2025 budget tables by the government to the House of Representatives, noting that the parliament is still not aware of the details of these tables until now.
Al-Sharmani explained in a statement to / Al-Maalouma / agency, that “according to the Financial Management Law, the budget tables must be sent to the House of Representatives at the end of October of each year, and that delaying this is a legal violation, especially since this delay has been repeated annually for years,” explaining that “the current delay is another legal violation, as there is no specific date for sending the budget tables.”
He points out that "there is a possibility that the government is linking the sending of these tables to amending the law proposed in Parliament, which will lead to an additional long delay in light of the ongoing disagreements over the proposal."
He explained that “the House of Representatives is still not aware of the 2025 budget schedules yet, and there is no specific date for sending these schedules.”
In contrast, the Prime Minister's financial advisor, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirms that the growth rates of the non-oil GDP will rise to an unprecedented level during 2024, while pointing out that the government program has succeeded in controlling financial diversification in the general budget and the national economy in general. link
Mot: WHAT!!!! -- Ur Kidding!!!!
Mot: .. We Had No Idea