Aws al-Mahdawi, a member of the Diyala Provincial Council, said on Friday that Diyala has not received its share of the regional development budget for the past two years, and this has seriously hurt the province.
Speaking to dinaropinions.com, al-Mahdawi said the financial crisis facing the country didn’t start today. According to him, it began two years ago, and the clearest proof is that Diyala never received its development budget for 2024 or 2025. Because of that, all current projects in the province are still being paid for using money from the 2023 budget.
He said this situation needs a clear explanation from Baghdad, especially from the Ministry of Finance. People deserve to know what kind of financial crisis the country is facing, how serious it is, and why Diyala’s money has been delayed for so long.
Al-Mahdawi explained that the problem isn’t just about development funds. It also affects the daily operating budgets of government departments. Because of this, local institutions are under huge pressure.
He added that Diyala’s departments are now stuck in a very difficult position. The crisis is directly hurting three major areas: their ability to do their basic work, their ability to fund projects, and their ability to complete annual plans.
Al-Mahdawi warned that there is still no clear end to this crisis, which raises serious concerns about how services and administration in Diyala will function in the near future.
