Shafaq News- Diyala

Construction of the Mendeli General Hospital, the largest government hospital in Iraq’s Diyala province, has been suspended due to funding shortages, despite being 90% complete, the district commissioner Ali Damad told Shafaq News on Monday.

Damad described the 100-bed Hospital as a key pillar for supporting the local health sector, expected to serve more than 60,000 residents in Mendeli district and surrounding areas near the border with Iran.

Read more: Iraq’s healthcare system nears collapse: Doctors leave, hospitals overflow

The project, he added, is essential to meeting rising healthcare needs and “easing the burden” on residents who currently travel to other cities for treatment.

Iraq has been operating under the so-called 1/12 spending rule since 2025 after parliament failed to pass a full federal budget on time. Under the mechanism, government institutions are limited to spending one-twelfth of the previous year’s budget each month, largely covering salaries and essential operating costs. Capital projects and new infrastructure spending, including hospital construction, are typically excluded, leaving dozens of projects stalled nationwide due to the absence of fresh allocations.

Read more: Iraq’s budget paralysis: How the 1/12 rule reduced state finances to salary payments