Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-29-23
Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-29-23
Political Deputy: You Will Not Pass A Budget That Robs The Rights Of The Center And The South
Today, Monday, independent MP Yasser Al-Husseini stated that he will not proceed with a budget that does not do justice to the central and southern governorates.
Al-Husseini said, “We hope that the leaders of the blocs, especially the leaders of the coordination framework, will not go too far in a political direction with regard to the budget.”
He added, "All the past years, the budget was proceeding in a politically consensual manner. As for this session, we demanded that it include real materials that guarantee all financial payments from the region."
And he added, “It is impossible to proceed in a way that robs the rights of the center and the south, or to vote on a budget that robs the rights of the center and the south, and it is impossible for the budget to pass like this.” https://takadum-news.com/archives/166713
IRAQ BUDGET 2023 - 2025 - VOTE - WEDNESDAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm8DMvYGZ3I
Kurdistan Puts The Stick In The Wheel To Obstruct The Passage Of The Budget
Information/Baghdad...Some Kurdish parties stood against passing the budget within the Parliamentary Finance Committee, despite the existence of a prior political agreement during which it was confirmed that the exported oil would be sold through the region through the SOMO Marketing Company, provided that the revenues are deposited in a specific bank in order to ensure that these amounts reach Baghdad in return for the region's hand over its agreed budget.
The Kurds' objection and their obstruction of the work of the Finance Committee has brought the situation back to the starting point, and despite the possibility of passing it without returning to the objectors, Baghdad still takes into account the rights of all components before proceeding with the budget legislation.
In this regard, the representative of the State of Law coalition, Asaad Muhammad, told Al-Maalouma, that “the regional government demands its share of the budget in addition to its control over the sale of oil and the revenues of the 400,000 barrels exported through Kurdistan without referring to the federal government or the oil products marketing company SOMO.” .
Chihoud added, "This is not possible, as the solution lies in flexibility and understanding in order to proceed with the budget."
On the other hand, the former member of the Parliamentary Oil Committee, Ghaleb Muhammad Ali, stated to Al-Maalooma, “The proposals submitted for amendment by the Parliamentary Finance Committee are constitutional and directly in the interest of the Kurdish citizen, but the recent Tensions occurred as a result of the work of the Finance Committee, which was summarized in the Provision of Control over the extraction and export of oil and gas in the region.
He added, "All popular circles in the Kurdistan region are in solidarity and thank all members of the Finance Committee for showing the points and paragraphs in which the Kurdistan government exploits citizens, while the regional government worked to stand against the Committee's proposals in order to continue controlling all Kurdistan's revenues."
On the other hand, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Ghiath Al-Sorji, confirmed to Al-Maalouma, “The amendments that took place within the Parliamentary Finance Committee regarding the region's budget are legal and in favor of transparency, as the The Union supports all amendments and sees in them the true guarantee for the people of the region and the receipt of salaries.”
Employees and their entitlements without delay,” adding that “the Democratic Party's objection to the budget cannot be accepted and its goal is to provoke a new crisis, and it is expected that the budget will be passed without the participation of the Democrat in the session .”
The intensity of the statements rose between deputies from the south and another from the Kurdistan region, against the backdrop of amending the articles related to the region in the budget, while Representative Youssef Al-Kalabi threatened to dismiss the second deputy speaker of Parliament, Shakhwan Abdullah.
And last Thursday, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mustafa Sanad, revealed that the committee had voted to amend paragraphs related to the region in the budget law, while pointing out the withdrawal of the representatives of the Democratic Party bloc from the meeting. LINK
Ministry Of Interior: Government Directives Regarding Dealing In Dollars Instead Of Dinars
Monday 29, May 2023 12:37 | Economical Number of readings: 123 Baghdad / NINA / - The Ministry of Interior announced today, Monday, that the government has issued directives regarding dealing in dollars instead of dinars, while setting a date for launching a campaign to hold accountable violators.
The ministry's spokesman, Major General Khaled Al-Muhanna, told the official agency: "Higher directives were issued by the government regarding the need to implement broad awareness and education campaigns regarding dealing in other than the national currency."
He added, "According to the laws, it is forbidden to trade in other than the Iraqi national currency," noting: "The last period in which non-Iraqi currencies were traded in the local markets, because the country went through different periods and crises."
Al-Muhanna explained: "Trading in other than the national currency occurs in countries that suffer from economic problems," noting that "Iraq's economy began to hold together, and the dinar proved its presence during the last period."
And he stressed the need for citizens to support the national currency, pointing out that, "The ministry started awareness campaigns for all citizens, and after that it will launch campaigns to hold accountable violators."/ End To receive more news, subscribe to
Ministry Of Interior: 5 Years Imprisonment For Dollar Dealers
Economy| 09:16 - 05/29/2023 Baghdad - Mawazine News The Ministry of Interior indicated the response of the owners of commercial centers to deal in dinars instead of dollars since the launch of its campaign in this regard in the middle of this month, while confirming that the penalty for the violator is up to five years in prison.
The director of organized crime operations in the ministry, Brigadier General Hussein Al-Tamimi, said, "The ministry had already launched, in the middle of this month, in cooperation with the Central Bank, a campaign to prevent owners of markets and shops from dealing in dollars and limiting this process to dinars."
He continued, "The Directorate indicated a great response by the owners of commercial centers to deal in dinars," noting that "the campaign is still continuing in all governorates except for the Kurdistan region, through detachments that carry out inspection and monitoring campaigns in centers, commercial markets, and car showrooms."
Al-Tamimi pointed out that "there are some weak-minded people who take advantage of the discrepancy in dollar prices and their lack of commitment to the pledges that were taken from them, and accordingly all legal measures were taken against the violators of the decisions issued by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces No. 23 and 26 who obligated commercial centers and owners of car showrooms to deal in dinars instead of dollars." ".
Al-Tamimi added, in an interview with the official newspaper, "Al-Sabah", which was followed by Mawazine News, that "the penalty for the violator is up to five years in prison." Ended 29/N33
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=227893
Disagreements Over The Budget Raise Doubts About The Secrets Of The Government Formation Agreement With Erbil
May 28, 2023 Baghdad / Obelisk Al-Hadath: The adoption of the Iraqi federal budget is hampered again due to a dispute over articles pertaining to the region, conducted by the Finance Committee in the Iraqi parliament, which leads to doubts about the ability of the agreements to form the government to provide an opportunity for long-term political stability.
The writer, Falah Al-Mashaal, said that five months have passed since the budget was circulated in the Council of Ministers, then three months to discuss it in the House of Representatives, then it stops with a new Shiite-Kurdish and Kurdish-Kurdish crisis, indicating that the talk is about an annual budget for the country, which means that talking about strategic projects becomes an illusion.
And he continued: The budget is drawn up by the Council of Ministers after financial and political accounts and agreements that facilitate the government’s work in implementing it and achieving its goals, then it sends it to the House of Representatives to legislate it, and if an objection or change occurs, it is returned to the Council of Ministers to make the amendment, and not to make amendments during the vote and raise controversial issues without returning to the Council of Ministers.
The writer, Ali Mared Al-Asadi, considered that the Parliamentary Finance Committee has a draft budget that includes huge financial shares that are not commensurate with the population of the region, and what is worse than that is that it is without corresponding conditions and obligations.
And he went on: The authority of the region says that these funds and the way they were formulated in the budget were added based on a political agreement, the details of which were not disclosed with Baghdad.
He said that the Parliamentary Finance Committee exercised its constitutional duty and made some minor amendments in the paragraphs related to the region to ensure that the Erbil authority pays federal debts and imports to Baghdad, and compensates employees in the northern governorates for the amounts that were deducted from their salaries in the past.
Al-Asadi considered that the amendments angered Barzani's party, which wants to maintain the loose formula in the draft budget to have a free hand in dealing with the region's employees, and to repeat the game of past years regarding the issue of delivering federal imports to Baghdad, which is no longer a secret to anyone.
The question is.. What is the relationship of the House of Representatives and the Parliamentary Finance Committee, which is entrusted with the people’s wealth, to political agreements if they violate the constitution, the law, and fair entitlements for all Iraqi governorates?!
Then why doesn't the regional authority reveal the document it signed secretly with this or that politician so that the Iraqi people can see its content? https://almasalah.com/archives/53967
A Deputy Denounces The "Allegations" Of The Finance Committee: There Is No Budget Deficit!
Economy |Today, Baghdad today – Baghdad Today, Sunday, independent MP Kazem Al-Touki refuted statements about the existence of a real fiscal deficit in the 2023 budget.
Al-Touki said, to (Baghdad Today), that "the budget law was prepared on the first month of the year, and its approval and implementation of this law will be at the end of the sixth month, and for this financial deficit will be in the law only an estimated and imaginary number and there is no real deficit."
And he indicated that "the budget law will be free from any deficit, and borrowing has not been done in order to work on the budget items, especially since the large financial allocations in the budget are for paying salaries."
Al-Touki confirmed that all employees' salaries are insured and there are no fears of any real financial deficit during the current year.
Earlier, the Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that it is working to reduce the deficit in the 2023 budget by reducing expenditures, while it indicated that it is going towards reducing it in real terms by searching for unnecessary operational and investment expenses and deleting them.
And she pointed out that it "will put in place a mechanism to reduce high operating expenses in a way that does not affect the volume of services provided to the citizen, nor the government program." LINK
A Deputy Calls For Approving A Budget That Does Justice To Everyone And Adheres To The Constitution
Economy 2023/05/29 Number of readings: 153 Baghdad-Iraq Today: Representative Burhan Al-Mamouri calling on all political forces to preserve the rights of all governorates without discrimination, distribute wealth fairly, and adhere to the articles of the constitution in approving the budget.
Al-Mamouri said in a statement, “The Iraqi people are impatiently waiting for the parliament to approve the general budget, as it relates to the fate of large segments of society, and the majority of strategic projects depend on it to develop the reality in all regions of the country, which makes it our highest priority in parliamentary work, as its delay causes more suffering for all citizens.
He added, "All political forces must preserve the rights of all provinces without discrimination, distribute wealth fairly, adhere to the articles of the Iraqi constitution and the decisions of the Federal Court, respect the legislative institution and the laws issued by it, and set aside all political problems and remove them from the budget, given that they are directly related to the interest of the people.” General".
And he continued, "The problems that occur between the central and regional governments, which have always accompanied the general budget discussions, are the same ones that arose since the adoption of the constitution and formed with the formation of the first government, and they are the previous ones." Accumulations that are transferred from one government to another, and its negative results are reflected only on all citizens from the north.” Iraq to its south and from east to west.
He pointed out that "everyone should put the supreme interest of the country before their eyes and not deviate from the constitutional path and respect the decisions of the Federal Court and adhere to the decision of the International Commercial Arbitration Court in Paris, which ruled earlier that The Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) is the only entity authorized to manage oil export operations from Kurdistan region via Turkey.
And he indicated, “The work and effort that the Parliamentary Finance Committee is doing deserves thanks and appreciation, in addition to that today it is entrusted before God, before the people, before history, and before the oaths they took to preserve the country's wealth and not allow it to be subject to divisions and understandings, as it is responsible for every Iraqi dinar included in the budget.” It is their responsibility to distribute the people's money equally to everyone."
He said: “The political leaders who agreed to form the government and made concessions to each other and concluded a political agreement (political concessions during the formation of the government) must take into account the other political forces that are far from temporary agreements, which are a transfer of accumulated problems to an unknown time." .
He pointed out that "the political forces are well aware that the agreement concluded between them is for a specific interest and is not valid for a long-term time, as after the formation of the government was completed, differences began to appear from here and there is between the agreed parties, knowing that this agreement has many problems.” However, they went ahead with their agreement to form the government.
He added, "We affirm that all Iraqis are equal in rights and duties, and just as we are looking for justice and fairness for all of our people, we will not allow the livelihood of our people in the region to be compromised, as they are the same as our people throughout the country.Affected cities and provinces in the east, west and south of the country.
And he stressed, "The need for the budget to include a fair and equitable distribution of the country's wealth to all provinces without favoring one province over another, and to include paragraphs that guarantee addressing the problems of the segments of society that have been subjected to injustice and injustice in previous years, putting all differences aside, and expediting a session of the House of Representatives to read and vote on it.” LINK