Shafaq News/ Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani needs 300 billion dinars to implement his government program, former lawmaker Mohammad Salman al-Taie, said on Saturday.

After nearly a year of political gridlock and violence, Iraq managed to form a new government under al-Sudani's chairmanship in October 2022. Al-Sudani has made several reform pledges, including creating tens of thousands of new jobs and tackling rampant corruption. His predecessors all made similar promises, but ultimately failed to deliver.

"In order to get through with his government program, al-Sudani needs 300 billion dinars," al-Taie told Shafaq News Agency, "however, after cutting the public servants' salaries and the Kurdistan region's share of the budget, he is left with merely 15 billion dollars."

"It is quite challenging to materialize this program," he added.

"Al-Sudani will be in a true predicament. He promised the Iraqi people and political forces that he will pull it off, but he might not be able to do that because of the lack of money," al-Taie continued, "he should come up with a quick solution to eliminate this hurdle."