No budget amendments: Iraq government accused of legal breach
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, a lawmaker from Iraq’s Shiite Coordination Framework (CF criticized Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government for delaying the submission of amended federal budget tables for 2024 and 2025, calling it a "violation" of the 2023 budget law.
“The government failed to meet its legal obligation to send the revised tables to parliament,” MP Ibtisam al-Hilali told Shafaq News. “This delay breaks the law.”
She emphasized the holdup has blocked public sector promotions, transfers, and bonuses, and disrupted payments to social groups, including farmers.
The Parliamentary Finance Committee had voiced surprise over the delay, citing previous government promises. The planning and finance ministers had referred the documents to the Cabinet, but parliament has not received them.
The Finance Ministry is currently covering salaries only, without allocating new benefits or project funding, due to the absence of the 2025 budget, al-Hilali added.
“If the government doesn’t submit the tables soon, this year will pass without a budget,” the MP explained. “All promotions, entitlements, and project financing will be pushed into the 2026 budget.”
Earlier, al-Sudani acknowledged a deficit in the 2024 budget during a visit to Dhi Qar province, saying the government spent 156 trillion dinars ($119.13B) out of a planned 213 trillion dinars ($162.6B). The money went to salaries, operational costs, and ministry and provincial projects.
Iraq’s 2023 budget totaled 211 trillion dinars, with expected revenues of 144.336 trillion dinars and a projected deficit of 63.599 trillion dinars. Parliament passed a three-year budget covering 2023, 2024, and 2025 in June last year.
