Lawmaker attributes the delay in budget approval to rising deficit

Shafaq News/ Iraq's 2024 budget approval is facing delays due to a ballooning deficit, a member of the Iraqi parliament revealed on Sunday, casting doubts on the country's economic outlook.

Lawmaker Adi Awad, a member of the finance committee said, "amending the budget law is on hold" due to a a huge deficit of 80 trillion dinars (USD 56.3 billion). "The focus now," Awad explained to Shafaq News Agency, "is on reducing public spending."

This focus on austerity measures translates to a lower project ceiling for 2024 compared to 2023, he explained. "Consequently, new projects will be excluded from the budget, with only ongoing initiatives receiving the funding. No new projects will be included in the 2024 budget." Awad warned that this decision "will deprive many governorates of anticipated projects" due to the financial constraints and the shortfall in non-oil revenue.

Awad said it is unlikely that the budget will be passed before Eid al-Fitr, citing the unresolved deficit issue. This, however, contradicts a statement made on Saturday by Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi, who said that the cabinet would approve the budget schedules within two weeks. Al-Awadi assured the local governments that they would receive the allocated funds and emphasized that "salaries are fully secured and amount to 69 trillion dinars."