Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s parliament will summon Finance Minister Faleh Al-Sari next week to discuss the country’s financial situation, including delays in salary payments linked to a liquidity shortage, lawmaker Ibtisam al-Hilali said on Tuesday.

Al-Hilali, a member of the State of Law coalition (SLC) led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told Shafaq News that the finance minister will appear before lawmakers at his own request, with the session also focusing on ways to expand non-oil sources of state revenue.

“There are more than one million employees in several ministries and state institutions who have not received their salaries due to a shortage of liquidity,” she added, urging the government to take swift measures to address the issue.

Earlier today, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) reported that Iraq’s currency in circulation reached 113.560 trillion dinars ($86.3B) at the end of May 2026, up from 112.896 trillion dinars ($85.8B) a month earlier, as currency outside the banking system continued to rise.

Financial expert Mahmoud Dagher warned that the expansion of currency in circulation could increase inflationary pressures and place further strain on foreign currency reserves, noting that Baghdad has limited options for securing short-term liquidity.