The reasons behind the delay in approving the 2024 budget schedules were disclosed by Atwan Al-Atwani, the head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, on Saturday. He also mentioned that the funds for the localization of employee salaries in the Kurdistan Region will be taken out of the 12.6% of the budget that is designated for the region.
Al-Atwani stated that the sums will be deducted from the 12.67% that the Kurdistan region’s share in the federal government’s decision to require the government to settle the salaries of employees in the region in Iraqi banks “comes to isolate the rights of the citizen and keep them away from political disputes and financial disputes with the region.” As long as localizing employee pay prevents job duplication and citizen labor from being duplicated, the budget is outside real expenditure and serves as a clear database for the Ministry of Finance.
Al-Atwani provided confirmation on the budget spending schedules for 2024. He stated that after the government modifies its position on the amount of spending required in the current year, Parliament will receive the schedules from the government. It is anticipated that the schedules will be received in a fortnight.
He explained that the need for certain spending sections to examine and approve the current year’s spending plan for governorates and institutions is what’s causing the schedule delays. He also mentioned that public expenditures are anticipated to increase this year compared to the 2023 budget because of the addition of new projects.
He believed that the issue would be resolved in Parliament quickly if the government could only modify the schedules and not the original budget. If the government changed the original budget, however, legislation would have to be passed, and while the deficit may increase as expenditures increase, it will still depend on the amount of revenue. The deficit decreases as revenue increases.
