Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq spent about 44.627 trillion dinars ($34.1B) on public-sector salaries and social welfare in the first half of 2026, equivalent to nearly 82% of total federal spending during the period, Finance Ministry data showed.

Employee compensation reached 30.769 trillion dinars ($23.5B), while social welfare spending totaled 13.858 trillion dinars ($10.6B), for a monthly average of about 7.438 trillion dinars ($5.68B).

The combined bill exceeded Iraq’s total first-half revenue of 35.946 trillion dinars ($27.4B) by about 8.681 trillion dinars ($6.63B). Overall federal spending reached 54.673 trillion dinars ($41.7B), while oil generated about 79% of state revenue.

The International Monetary Fund said in a 2026 technical report that Iraq remained vulnerable to oil-price fluctuations and called for fiscal adjustments, including reducing the public wage bill and increasing non-oil revenue.

Read more: No exit but Hormuz: Iraq's economic vulnerability exposed