Shafaq News/ The Finance Committee in the Iraqi Parliament suggested that the salaries of employees will be delayed "for a few days" only, due to "technical" issues.

Member of the committee, MP Ahmad Hama Rashid, said in an interview with Shafaq News agency, "salaries may be delayed but the government cannot cut them because it is the citizen's sustenance", stressing that, "the government is obligated to release it, whether by borrowing or withdrawing from the cash reserve or anything else".

Rashid explained, "the Central Bank promised to pay salaries for the coming months", explaining, "the government needs 6 billion dollars a month to cover its expenses, of which more than 3 billion are paid in salaries. Therefore, there is a deficit of about two billion dollars".

Rashid indicated, "August salaries may be delayed for a few days because of the lack of income to the federal treasury, as oil and other revenues do not arrive on a precise date. This leads to the delay", stressing, "the delay is due to technical issues".

The government has submitted a law that stipulates external borrowing of $ 5 billion and internal borrowing of $ 15 trillion to address the country's fiscal deficit.

The Iraqi government is struggling to secure employee salaries and other operating expenses after the collapse in oil prices due to COVID-19 pandemic, which has paralyzed large sectors of the world economy, while Iraq relies on the revenues of crude oil to fund 95 percent of state expenditures.