Wednesday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-17-23

Wednesday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-17-23

Urgent Cougar: The Vote On The Budget Next Saturday

Time: 05/16/2023 21:09:36   Read: 1,677 times  {Economic: Al Furat News} A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee suggested that the House of Representatives vote on the draft financial budget law next Saturday.  Committee member Jamal Cougar told {Euphrates News} agency: "The closest date for presenting the budget to parliament and voting on it is next Saturday."

He pointed out that "the current budget deficit is the largest in the history of the country's budgets, as it exceeded 64 trillion dinars," noting that "the current deficit will be maintained."

It is noteworthy that the Parliamentary Finance Committee continues to vote on the items of the 2023 budget before preparing its final version and submitting it to the House of Representatives.

The State Administration Coalition had set in a previous meeting on May 17 {tomorrow, Wednesday} the date for voting on the budget.   LINK

Parliament Pushes The Approval Of The Budget With The End Of Half Of The Fiscal Year

The first  2023/05/17   Baghdad: Shaima Rashid  Attention is focused on less than four committees in the House of Representatives that took it upon themselves to discuss all the details of the federal budget for the year 2023, with meetings and hosting for the governors and the majority of ministries and executive bodies to listen to views on federal allocations and regional development budgets.

The only exception may be the labor law currently in parliament, as deputies say it is very close to approval even before the next legislative recess.

The Parliamentary Legal Committee affirmed that “the budget law preoccupied parliament as it affects people’s lives,” allocating “what remains of the current legislative chapter of the draft budget,” considering that “the completion of the vote on the labor law today will have an impact on the street, as it concerns the private sector.”

A member of the Legal Committee, Iman Abdel-Razzaq, said in a statement to "Al-Sabah": "All laws are important, but the budget law is the most important, and there are many matters contingent on its passage."

Abdel-Razzaq added, "The labor law has been voted up to Article 35 of it, and we may witness the completion of voting on the rest of the articles in the coming sessions," stressing that "this law will not be delayed after other committees participated in its formulation, and we may witness the completion of voting on it before the legislative recess." ".

The deputy stated, "The law is important and includes all segments working in the private sector, in addition to widows and social care workers. The law also includes the private sector."

The Finance Committee resumed its meetings under the chairmanship of its Chairman, Atwan Al-Atwani, as it was emphasized the need to expedite and invest the time factor in completing the articles and paragraphs of the Federal General Budget Law in preparation for voting on it.

And the House of Representatives Media Department stated in a statement that "the committee hosted those concerned in the Ministries of Planning, Finance, and the Central Bank, to clarify a number of issues included in the general budget law, including the loan mechanism and obligations to distribute percentages between the ongoing strategic projects in the governorates, in order to adapt them in line with the implementation of the government program." ".

The statement added that "emphasis was placed on completing projects and distributing their funding according to the need for those projects," noting that "the (Iraqi-Chinese) framework agreement was discussed to finance the sums for implementing projects to build a thousand schools, energy support projects in Iraq, and other projects under the agreement." Edited by: Ali Abdel-Khalek   https://alsabaah.iq/77098-.html

Government: Approval Of The Budget Is Reflected Positively By Increasing The Volume Of International Investments In Iraq

2023-05-17 02:57  Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed, on Wednesday, that approving the financial budget is reflected positively by increasing the volume of international investments in the country's markets.

A statement issued by the ministry today stated that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, met yesterday, Tuesday, with the UK Ambassador to Iraq, Mark Bryson-Richardson.

The statement indicated that during the meeting, they discussed strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries and the invitation extended to His Excellency to visit the United Kingdom in the coming months to open the sixth session of the Iraqi-British Ministerial Council and sign the partnership and cooperation agreement between the two countries.

The statement also indicated that the efforts and procedures of the Iraqi government in dealing with the issue of immigration were discussed, and the Iraqi government's efforts to reduce escalation and find diplomatic solutions to crises through its adoption of mediation and dialogue efforts in the region.

And the ministry continued in its statement that during the meeting, dialogues with the International Monetary Fund were discussed in implementing non-financial programs to provide support and advice to the Iraqi government to implement its economic reform program, and the approval of the Iraqi parliament for the government budget that will take place soon, which would be positively reflected by increasing the volume of international investments. In the Iraqi markets, especially in light of the security and economic stability that Iraq is currently witnessing.   LINK

Petrodollar Money... Deferred Payment Rights

The first  2023/05/16    Baghdad: Haider Al-Jaber  In addition to the internal and external debts, the federal government owes huge amounts of money under the item “petrodollars”, which were deducted from oil export funds in previous years, and these amounts were not paid due to the ongoing crises.

A member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, Ali Al-Lami, announced, earlier, the agreement to include the payment of the amounts due to the oil-producing provinces from the “petrodollars” to all provinces, as compensation for the damages incurred, stressing the existence of an agreement to collect these past and current funds and include them in the budget.

Representative Tel Al-Mishaal revealed that the amount deducted from oil exports had been reduced to two dollars per barrel instead of five dollars, and he also revealed the existence of a specific agreement to pay these sums.

Al-Mishal told Al-Sabah: “Petrodollar allocations are in the general budget, and the law previously provided for a deduction of $5 per barrel,” noting that “due to successive financial crises, the war on terrorism, and the Corona crisis, liquidity decreased and the law was disrupted, and the sums were recycled and recorded in debt.” The federal government is in favor of local governments in the oil and gas producing provinces. https://alsabaah.iq/77010-.html

Al-Sudani Talks About A Deal That Provides Iraq With "Billions Of Dollars Annually"

Energy  Economy News – Baghdad Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani confirmed, on Wednesday, that Iraq is preparing to announce new rounds to offer fields and exploration blocks for investment in the gas sector, considering that the deal with the French company "Total Energies" would end decades of gas flaring and stop the loss of billions of dollars annually.

Al-Sudani said, in the context of an article published in the Saudi newspaper, "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat", that "we want to build a strong Iraqi economy capable of achieving the desired qualitative change, and for Iraq to be a region of convergence and integration between East and West, based on its strategic location, depth, historical legacy, regional weight, abundance of resources and influence in the world." world economy".

He added, "Based on this principle, we started work on the strategic development road project to link the port of Faw with the Turkish border, and from there to Europe, and Baghdad is preparing to host a meeting that includes transport ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran, Turkey, Syria and Jordan at the end of this month, to discuss and implement this strategic project."

 Because it consolidates the horizons of regional economic cooperation, and serves the interests of these countries and their peoples.

And he stated, "The deal with the energy company, Total Energies, was concluded in a Qatari partnership, and it would end decades of gas burning, stop our import of it, and our loss of billions of dollars annually,

in addition to stopping polluting Iraq's environment," noting that "this deal was strengthened by other deals such as The signing of contracts for the fifth round of oil and gas fields, in which the Emirati "Crescent Company" participated, in order to upgrade oil and gas fields, and we are preparing to announce new rounds to offer fields and exploration blocks for investment in the gas sector.   330 views   Added 05/17/2023   https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=34253

Parliamentary Finance Fails To Reduce The Budget Deficit And Continues To Vote On Its Articles

Posted On2023-05-17 By Sotaliraq   The Parliamentary Finance Committee is preparing to pass the articles of the budget law before presenting it to a vote next week, confirming that there will be no reduction in the amount of the planned deficit. Committee member Representative Khalil Ghazi said, "The size of the budget will remain the same, but some transfers will occur between expenditure items."

Ghazi continued: “We are now in the stage of discussing the budget items, that is, the texts of the budget articles, and the possibility of amending some of them or adding some new articles,” adding that “the size of the budget deficit will remain the same.”

The other member of the committee, Representative Mueen Al-Kadhimi, confirms that “discussions on the budget law have reached their final stages, especially in terms of meetings with ministers, heads of agencies and governors.”

Al-Kazemi added, "The Finance Committee is in the process of finalizing the law and has intensified its meetings in this regard."

He pointed out, "The State Administration Coalition made a decision that the seventeenth of this month (today) is the initial date for voting on the law, and we hope to complete this file completely during this week." Al-Kadhimi stressed, "The current budget ceiling, which is about 200 trillion dinars, will remain unchanged until we give the government the opportunity to perform its approach that was voted on by Parliament."

And Al-Kazemi stated, “The House of Representatives will not touch the high ceiling, and we are certain that this amount will not be spent entirely during the remainder of the current year, and a good part of it will circulate until next year.”

And he continues, “The political blocs agree on the need to expedite the approval of this law, and there are no differences, especially after the federal government concluded an oil agreement with the Kurdistan region.”

Al-Kazemi concluded, “The delay in the budget for a period not short is due to several reasons, the most prominent of which is related to the change in the exchange rate of the dollar and changes in the global oil markets and other factors related to the executive apparatus.” Committee member Mustafa Al-Karawi said, “The Finance Committee does not bear the responsibility for delaying the approval of the law, which took a long time in the government, and then the presidency of Parliament before referring it to us.”

And Al-Karawi continues, “The government was late in preparing the law for three months, after which it was referred to Parliament, and then he remained in the presidency of Parliament for about 20 days, and we arrived at the beginning of last month.” And he believed, “The period that the budget took in the committee is very good, because the law needs discussions with government agencies, especially since the texts indicate a high spending and deficit volume.”

In addition, Representative Jawad Al-Yasari stated, “The Parliamentary Finance Committee ended the day before yesterday voting on a number of the budget, with several articles remaining that will be completed during the current week.”

Al-Yasiri added, "The political blocs are determined to end this file and pass the budget during one of the sessions next week, because of its utmost importance to the country's conditions in general."

And a parliamentary statement stated, “The Finance Committee resumed its meetings headed by Representative Atwan Al-Adwani, Chairman of the Committee, and the presence of its members yesterday, where it was stressed the need to expedite and invest the time factor in completing the articles and paragraphs of the Federal General Budget Law in preparation for voting on it.”

The statement added, “During the meeting, the committee hosted those concerned in the Ministries of Planning, Finance, and the Central Bank, to clarify a number of issues included in the general budget law, including the loan mechanism and the obligations of distributing percentages to ongoing strategic projects in the governorates, in order to adapt them in line with the implementation of the government program.” Pointing to "emphasis on completing projects and distributing their financing according to the needs of those projects." He pointed out, to "discussing the (Iraqi-Chinese) framework agreement, to finance the sums for implementing construction projects (1000) schools, energy support projects in Iraq, and other projects under the agreement."

It is noteworthy that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Shakhwan Abdullah, announced earlier this week that the vote on the federal budget law for the years (for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025) will take place this week, adding that “the vote on the federal budget law will take place this week, and the House of Representatives will hold a special session to approve The general budget and its approval, because it is an important law and citizens in all governorates of Iraq are waiting for it.

On March 13, 2023, the Council of Ministers approved the Iraqi federal general budget draft law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025.

According to Article (1) of the draft budget law, the revenues of the federal general budget for the fiscal year 2023 are estimated at (134,552,919,063) dinars, with estimated revenues from exporting crude oil calculated on the basis of an average price of (70) dollars per barrel, and an export rate of (3,500). (.000) barrels per day, including (400,000) for the quantities of crude oil produced in the Kurdistan region on the basis of the exchange rate (1300) dinars per dollar, and recording all revenues actually generated as final revenue for the account of the public treasury of the state.

An amount of (199,022,111,663) dinars has been allocated for the fiscal year 2023, including the following amounts: operating expenses in an amount of (133,221,694,002) dinars, indebtedness represented by internal and external debt installments (12,750,981,021), and special programs in an amount of (3,587,284,886). dinars.

It is noteworthy that Iraq did not vote on the 2022 budget, due to differences between the political parties, which followed the parliamentary elections. LINK