Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's Finance Ministry began drafting the 2027 federal budget, the first new plan to be prepared after two years without an approved spending plan, the Prime Minister's Financial Adviser told Shafaq News on Monday.

Mudhir Mohammed Saleh pointed out that the Finance Ministry is expected to complete the draft budget law by September, after which it will be submitted to the Ministerial Council for the Economy for review before being referred to the Council of Ministers for approval and then sent to parliament.

“It is too early to determine the total value of the 2027 budget as the final size of the spending plan will be set once the ministry completes the draft law.”

The previous government, led by Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, enacted a three-year budget covering 2023–2025. However, the 2025 spending plan was never implemented after parliament failed to approve its amended expenditure schedules before the law expired. The Finance Ministry subsequently adopted the one-twelfth (1/12) spending mechanism to finance salaries and other mandatory expenditures. Iraq also failed to approve a 2026 budget because of delays in forming a new government, the economic repercussions of the regional war, and volatility in energy markets, leaving the country to continue operating under the temporary spending mechanism.

Read more: 2026 budget: Iraq confronts unprecedented fiscal strain