Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq’s Ministerial Council for the Economy on Monday approved measures to curb government spending, led by cuts to allocations for the three presidencies and sharp reductions in official travel.

According to an official statement, Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani chaired an emergency council session reviewing salaries and benefits at the Presidency of the Republic, the Council of Representatives, and the Prime Minister’s Office, with instructions to unify pay and allowances across the three institutions.

Al-Sudani also directed the Ministry of Planning to update its long-pending report on unifying the public-sector salary scale and to move forward with the submitted recommendations.

The council further decided to slash official travel allowances for state employees by 90 percent, limiting trips to cases of necessity and requiring ministerial approval. Spending reductions also include lowering supervision and oversight allocations for new projects and restricting imports under a national program to essential goods only.

The focus on expenditure comes amid growing scrutiny of state spending. Eco Iraq Observatory reported that the Presidency’s expenditures averaged nearly four billion Iraqi dinars per month in 2025 (Approx $3M), with 99 percent directed toward operational costs such as salaries, travel, administration, and security, while investment spending remained minimal.