Wednesday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-31-23

Al-Kazemi Comments On The Budget Controversy: Insistence On Approving It Within A Week

Policy  |Today,   Baghdad today – Baghdad   A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mueen Al-Kazemi, confirmed today, Wednesday, the framework forces’ insistence on passing the budget law during the current week.

Al-Kadhimi told (Baghdad Today) that "the budget law has become ready for voting, and there is parliamentary and political insistence by the coordinating framework to legislate the budget law during the current week. There is a national need to expedite the legislation of this law due to its importance."

He pointed out that "there is a possibility to hold a voting session on the budget law tomorrow, Wednesday or Thursday, especially since this approach is supported by the majority of political forces and representatives in the Iraqi parliament."

Yesterday, Monday, the head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, called on the Presidency of Parliament to set a voting session on the financial budget during the current week.

Last Saturday, the House of Representatives failed to hold a special session to vote on the draft financial budget law for the year 2023, due to the addition of paragraphs by the Finance Committee in Parliament, which the Kurdish political forces considered to be inconsistent with the political agreements on the basis of which the government of Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani was formed, which Related to the oil of the Kurdistan region.  LINK

Member Of Parliamentary Finance: A Crisis Of Confidence Between The Blocs Over The Budget And The Region's Actions Are Unconstitutional

Baghdad today – Baghdad  A member of the Nepalese Finance Committee, Hussein Moanis, revealed the latest details of the draft financial budget law.

Moanes said in a televised statement: "The budget has technically ended and we are waiting for the parliament session to be held," noting that "the Finance Committee held 55 sessions to discuss budget files and schedules."

He pointed out, "The parliament presidency is now responsible for determining the voting session on the budget," adding that "the political blocs imposed the maintenance of the deficit in the federal budget, while the Finance Committee imposed many amendments to the copy of the budget sent by the government."

Moanis pointed out that "the representatives of the Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc are the ones who brought out the budget dialogues to the media," accusing "the second deputy speaker of parliament of seeking to confuse the work of the Finance Committee."

He explained, "The amendments to Articles 13 and 14 in the budget for the Kurdistan region were voted on by the majority of the members of the Finance Committee, and the amendments were passed by the votes of the majority within the committee."

He described "the ends of the agreements of the political forces in the loose," pointing to "the crisis of confidence between the political forces forced us to put the budget in the right way."

A member of the Finance Committee confirmed that "Mosul and Kirkuk oil belong to the North Oil Company and not to the region. We also sought to do justice to the segment of employees in the Kurdistan region, and we do not have statistics for their number."

"We sought to include 10% of the compulsory savings debts for all the region's employees," Moanis continued, explaining that "the region's real problem is within it, not in Baghdad."

He promised, "The actions of the regional government are neither legal nor constitutional," noting that "the Federal Court has already condemned the actions of the regional government."

Moanes pointed out that "the International Arbitration Court in Paris issued a ruling against the region regarding the export of oil."

He stressed, "There is no rejection by the political forces of the budget amendments, and we do not have hostility with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which is a partner in the political process." LINK

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"Its Negative Aspects Began." The Budget Delay Disrupts Basra Projects

Baghdad today – Baghdad  The local government in Basra confirmed the governorate's need to approve the draft financial budget law, indicating that its delay causes delays in some important projects.

The deputy governor for district and district affairs, Hassan al-Najjar, told (Baghdad Today) that: “The governorate has important projects that it intends to refer this year, including the Hawally road, which will be in the vicinity of the governorate and contribute to removing traffic jams.

He added, "We also want to refer projects for the secretions that were distributed from the local government. The beneficiaries of those lands need to build them, and therefore we hope to proceed quickly with approving the budget in order for the governorate to proceed with the projects."

It is noteworthy that the House of Representatives has not yet resolved the differences over the draft financial budget law, especially the articles related to the Kurdistan region, amid political efforts to end the controversy and proceed with approving the law as soon as possible.

And the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, stressed, earlier, the need to expedite the legislation of the budget, and while he indicated that it is a strategic and important issue in the progress of Iraq, he stressed that the delay in its approval obscures part of the important expenditures in the Iraqi economy, and affects opportunities for progress and growth.  LINK

Deputy: The Budget Cannot Be Legislated Unless A New Agreement Is Reached Between Baghdad And Erbil

Money  and business  Economy News – Baghdad  Today, Wednesday, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, called for passing the budget law with the agreement of “all” political parties.

Cougar said, "The delay in approving the draft budget law, due to Baghdad's retraction from its agreements with the regional government regarding the paragraphs related to Kurdistan within the budget law, due to its silence until this moment on the amendments that the region's paragraphs obtained within the budget, and what is happening is outside its will and control."

Cougar added, in an interview with "Shafaq News" agency, followed by "Al-Iqtisad News", that "the budget law can only be enacted after reaching a new agreement between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the region's share in the budget."

He went on to say: "We are not with passing the budget according to a policy of arm-twisting and disagreements, because this may have repercussions on political stability. We are with passing the law with the agreement of all political parties."

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The "Framework" Presents New Proposals On The Budget Crisis, And The "Democratic" Is Committed To The Erbil-Baghdad Agreement

2023-05-31 By Sotaliraq  Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan   The coordination framework presented to the Kurdistan Democratic Party an amended version of the proposals of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, which raised the recent crisis with the region regarding the budget.

Although no official statements have been issued so far regarding the recent developments, the "Democratic" confirms its adherence to the agreement concluded with the Baghdad government two months ago.

Last week, the Finance Committee in Parliament made sudden amendments to the budget related to the share of the Kurdistan region and the oil export mechanism.

Parliament was preparing to hold a session to vote on the budget, last Saturday, but the Finance Committee's amendments disrupted the session and brought the law back into negotiations again.

The regional government has previously described the recent changes to the text of the budget as “unconstitutional” and inconsistent with the agreement signed between the two governments.

In light of these positions, the coordination framework had held a meeting on Sunday evening in the office of the deputy speaker of parliament and the leader of the coalition, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, while some leaders were absent.

One day after the meeting, which did not produce any clear results, news leaked that the "framework" offered amended proposals to the Democratic Party, whose representatives boycotted the sessions of the Parliamentary Finance Committee.

No statement was issued until the moment of writing the report from any party, but Vian Sabri, head of the Democratic Party bloc in Parliament, said that "negotiations are continuing between the political forces and the party on the issue of placing the region in the budget."

In an interview with Al-Mada, Sabri stated that "Fouad Hussein (Foreign Minister and leader of the Democratic Party) is authorized by the party to negotiate the budget."

On what leaked out of the amended proposals, Sabri confirmed, "Our vision is to adhere to the original text of the budget, which is consistent with the government program and the agreement with the government and the state administration coalition."

And concluded the head of the bloc in Parliament, saying that «meetings and discussions in progress, and will remain continuous».

According to the leaked proposals, which were submitted by Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organization, to Fouad Hussein, a member of the parliamentary committee confirmed that they contained amendments from the previous one.

Jamal Cougar, a member of the committee, said in an interview with (Al-Mada): “So far, there is no official information about these proposals, but what has been discussed in it is an amendment and mitigation of the conditions that were previously set in the Finance Committee.”

Cougar added, "Even if these proposals are correct, the negotiator, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, will need to return to his leadership to discuss the latest developments."

Political sources say that the new amendments are also still being discussed and negotiated within the coordination framework.

The last meeting of the Shiite alliance, according to insiders, did not reach a decisive solution to the budget crisis with Kurdistan, and it was likely to hold other meetings.

Economics professor in Basra, Nabil Al-Marsoumi, revealed what he said were new proposals about paragraphs 13 and 14 in the budget for the Kurdistan region, which include 6 points.

And Al-Marsoumi mentioned in a widely circulated post, “According to private sources, the coordination framework presented a new proposal regarding paragraphs 13 and 14 in the budget for the Kurdistan region: it states the following:

The region should deliver 400,000 barrels of oil per day to SOMO.

Selling Kurdistan Region Oil in coordination with SOMO Company.

In the event that it is not possible to export oil through the ports of Turkey, Erbil will deliver the oil to Baghdad.

The Ministry of Oil is finding alternatives to selling or using Kurdistan's oil internally.

The government is obligated to pay 400,000 barrels of oil to Erbil if it receives it from the region.

Oil sales and internal circulation funds are placed in an account belonging to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

On the other hand, Kurdish media revealed that the regional government discussed the recent changes in the budget with consuls and foreign representations in Erbil.

According to those means, she said yesterday that Sven Dziye, head of the Foreign Relations Office in Erbil, will meet with the consuls, offices and representations of a group of countries.

She indicated that the main topic of the meeting was the discussion of Articles 13 and 14 of the share of the Kurdistan region in the draft budget law, as well as the negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad on financial dues.

The Parliamentary Finance Committee had called on the Presidency of Parliament to expedite the determination of the voting session on the budget this week.

The head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, said in a statement, “After discussing the draft general budget law in the Parliamentary Finance Committee (…) we call on the Presidency of the honorable House of Representatives to expedite the determination of the voting session on the law during the current week.”

Al-Atwani added, "Our emphasis on the importance of speeding up the approval of the general budget is in order to initiate development plans, rehabilitate infrastructure, continue economic reform, and focus on priority projects, especially health, housing, basic services, and support for investment and the private sector."

And he continued, "We appeal to the political forces to overcome their differences and work in a patriotic spirit in order to achieve this merit, in implementation of the covenant that the parliament and the people's representatives made to themselves in serving the country, and to strive to pass legislation and laws that are in the interest of the citizen."

The Finance Committee suspended its work until further notice, following a request by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Shakhwan Abdullah to correct the number of its members to (23) instead of the current (24). LINK