$13 billion isn’t deposit into the state’s treasury: Iraq

Shafaq News / The Parliamentary Services and Reconstruction Committee revealed on Sunday, imports described as "real" of the border ports, confirming that $ 13 billion from the annual port imports isn’t deposit into the state’s treasury.

"The process of assessing the imports of border outlets is through selling foreign currency, on this basis, Iraq imports goods annually from abroad with more than $ 15 billion, but it isn’t kept as imports into the state’s treasury,” Member of the committee, Mudar Khazaal Al-Azrajawi told Shafaq News Agency.

“Deposited funds annually into the state’s treasury are estimated at two billion dollars, but $ 13 billion in imports of border outlets aren’t kept in the state's treasury, but rather goes into the pockets of the corrupt."

Al-Azrajawi called on the government to "intervene, open an investigation, control the border crossings, remove the political parties, and hold the corrupt accountants to trial."

According to press reports, the Iraqi government will be unable to pay the salaries of public sector employees during the coming months perhaps also will not be able to pay the wages of June, due to the financial problems that the country suffers from as a result of corruption, the failure of economic planning and the collapse of oil prices, which represents 90% of the Iraqi economy, after a drop in demand for it due to the outbreak of the novel Corona virus.

A report by the World Bank stated that the Iraqi budget deficit may exceed $ 20 billion, as the economy retreated by more than 9.7%, which led to a deep financial gap, and it is not clear when or how it can be filled at a time when the country is witnessing a rise in the numbers of unemployed.