Sunday “News and Views” Posted by KTFA Members 2-2-2025

KTFA:

Clare: Shafaq News publishes the first amendment to the budget law for the years 2023-2025

2/2/2025

 Shafaq News Agency publishes the text of the first amendment to the Iraqi state general budget law for the years 2023-2025, which was voted on by the Council of Representatives in today's session, Sunday.

The Iraqi Council of Representatives held its fourth session of the first legislative term of the fourth legislative year this evening, Sunday, headed by the First Deputy Speaker of the Council, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, with the attendance of 176 representatives, and the boycott of about 50 representatives.

AMENDMENT TO THE BUDGET LAW     LINK

Another_Mailman:  I believe that today was the last big hurdle that needed to be settled! Imo, the budget was already "read" the necessary amount of times and should be passed within a week. Superbowl Sunday would be great, IMO!

Clare:  THIS IS A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IMO. IT IS WHAT SUDANI WANTED AND HE MADE SURE IT HAPPENED TODAY! (THAT'S WHY HE HAD THOSE MEETINGS FRIDAY NIGHT.) IMO THIS IS GOOD FOR US!

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Clare:  Iraqi Parliament Approves First Amendment to General Budget Law for 2023-2025

2/2/2025

The Iraqi Parliament voted, on Sunday, on the draft law of the first amendment to the Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years (2023 - 2024 - 2025) No. (13) of 2023.

For his part, independent MP Ahmed Majeed announced in a statement to Shafaq News Agency that members of the House of Representatives from the central and southern governorates boycotted the parliament session held today, considering that voting on the budget is "a violation of the law and the internal regulations of the council due to the lack of a legal quorum."

Majeed explained that "the number of representatives present does not exceed 140 representatives, which means that the quorum is not achieved," stressing that they doubt the legitimacy of the session.

He added: "We will file an appeal with the Federal Court against the House of Representatives for violating the law and proceeding with the vote on amending the budget law."

The Iraqi Council of Representatives held its fourth session of the first legislative term of the fourth legislative year a short while ago, headed by the First Deputy Speaker of the Council, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, with the attendance of 176 representatives, and the boycott of about 50 representatives.

A parliamentary source told Shafaq News Agency, "The representatives of the Central and Southern Front boycotted the session in protest against the amendment of the budget law. The number of representatives of the Front is about 50 representatives, most of whom are independents."

The representative of the Central and Southern Front, Raed Al-Maliki, said during a press conference held in the parliament building with the participation of the representatives and attended by a Shafaq News Agency correspondent, "We are a group of representatives from the central and southern governorates who boycotted the parliament session on Sunday because of the paragraph amending the budget law."

Al-Maliki added, "We requested that there be a joint administration with the regional government, and that companies be obligated to review contracts, and that other articles be reviewed, including Article 14 of the budget law, in addition to other articles and the deficit in the budget law."

He stressed, "Our demands relate to implementing the rights of the central and southern governorates and financing the government contracting expenses of companies contracting with local governments."

Parliament Speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, who is currently visiting the Iranian capital Tehran, announced before his departure that Parliament will approve today, Sunday, amending the general budget in accordance with the text sent by the Council of Ministers.

Earlier today, the Coordination Framework, which brings together Shiite political forces, revealed the existence of a political agreement to pass the amendment to the budget law during the session of the Iraqi parliament scheduled to be held today.

The representative of the framework, Mohammed Radhi, told Shafaq News Agency, "There is a political agreement to pass the amendment to the budget law during today's session, as the text of the amendment was mentioned by the Iraqi government. There is a political and parliamentary will and desire to support the government's steps to resolve the differences with the region."

Radi added, "The agreement to pass the amendment to the budget law came in order to push the government to expedite sending the 2025 budget schedules, as no one wants to disrupt this budget, to prevent obstructing the construction and reconstruction process, and launching many strategic and important projects during this year."

The Finance Committee of the Iraqi Council of Representatives announced yesterday, Saturday, that the Council of Representatives will vote in today’s session, Sunday, on the government’s proposal to amend Article 12 of the General Budget Law.

The draft amendment to Article 12 of the Budget Law includes two paragraphs, the first of which relates to the costs of producing and transporting the Kurdistan Region’s oil after determining the actual estimated costs through the advisory body.”

As for the second paragraph, it stipulates that if the federal and regional governments do not agree on the costs of production and transportation, the Ministry of Oil shall choose a party to determine those costs, and as a result the cost of extracting oil from the oil fields in the region shall be calculated.

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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Clare:  After approving the budget amendment, Shakhwan Abdullah announces containing the problem of Kurdistan oil and employees’ salaries

2/2/2025

The Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Shakhwan Abdullah, announced on Sunday that the problems facing the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region have been contained, after passing the amendment to the federal budget law.

Abdullah said in an interview with a number of journalists, including a Shafaq News Agency correspondent, that the budget amendment came after everyone reached this conclusion, and now there are no problems facing oil exports.

He added, "Accordingly, oil will be exported from the Kurdistan Region in the future, and our goal is to contain the problem of employees' salaries."

Abdullah expressed his thanks to all the blocs, with their various names, that voted in favor of the budget bill to resume the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region, considering it "an important step to reconnect the region to global markets."

Abdullah also said, "The decision to sell oil through SOMO removed all excuses for the federal government not to send the budget." 

He added: "Despite some problems occurring during the session, everyone eventually reached a conviction to pass this project, because any amendment would have taken us back to square one, especially since this project involves three parties: the regional government, the federal government, and the oil companies."

Abdullah stressed that "there is no longer any obstacle to resuming oil exports," explaining that the project addresses issues related to oil revenues and the return of benefits to the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Region, and also contributes to resolving disputes related to the region's salaries and oil delivery.

The agreement came after a series of meetings between the Kurdistan delegation and the Iraqi government, the last of which was last Friday.

The issue of salaries of Kurdistan employees tops the list of disputes between Baghdad and the region, especially after the decision of the Iraqi Federal Court last year obligating both the Prime Minister of the Federal Council and the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government to localize the salaries of employees and workers in the public sector in federal banks.

Baghdad confirmed its commitment to the decision, but stipulated the submission of lists of employees’ names, while the regional Ministry of Finance considered that “ambiguity surrounds how to deal with the list.”

The Kurdistan Region has been witnessing a financial crisis and a liquidity shortage since losing its most important financial resources due to the halt of oil exports to Turkey via the Ceyhan Port pipeline after Ankara's decision to stop the flow of crude following an international arbitration ruling requiring it to pay compensation to Baghdad for the damages it suffered.

In turn, the federal government faces the challenge of securing employees’ salaries due to the budget deficit rising to more than 64 trillion Iraqi dinars, while the size of the domestic debt reaches about 14.5 percent of the gross domestic product, according to official data.   LINK

Clare: The Prime Minister sponsors the ceremony of handing over the key to Baghdad, the Arab Tourism Capital 2025

2/2/2025

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani sponsored the ceremony of handing over the key to Baghdad, the Arab Tourism Capital 2025.

Last December, the Arab Tourism Organization chose Baghdad as the Arab Tourism Capital for the year 2025.   LINK

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Clare:  Rafidain Bank announces the start of distributing retirees’ salaries for the month of February

2/2/2025

Rafidain Bank announced today, Sunday, the start of distributing retirees’ salaries for the current month of February through electronic payment tools.

 The bank's media office said in a statement received by {Euphrates News}, a copy of which said, "The distribution of salaries for civilian and military retirees has begun."

He pointed out that "retirees who receive text messages can go to receive their salaries from wherever they are."   LINK

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Clare: Italy invites Sudani to sign economic agreements

2/2/2025

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani received today, Sunday, the Italian Ambassador to Iraq, Nicolo Fontana, where His Excellency congratulated him on assuming his new duties, wishing him success in his work.

During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and support for joint cooperation in various fields and sectors. The meeting also addressed developments in the region, especially the events in Syria and the ceasefire file in both Gaza and Lebanon.

The Italian Ambassador renewed the invitation to the Prime Minister to visit Italy and work on signing a strategic agreement between the two countries, similar to the two agreements signed by Iraq with France and the United Kingdom.   LINK

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