US backs Iraq’s economic reform push
Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Washington
The United States pledged deeper economic cooperation with Iraq during talks between Finance Minister Faleh Al-Sari and US Chargé d’Affaires Joshua Harris on Wednesday, as Baghdad advances a broad economic reform plan centered on a new program-based budgeting system.
Al-Sari said the government is preparing measures to address longstanding financial and economic challenges in coordination with state institutions and international partners. He also outlined plans to gradually transition from traditional budgeting to a program-based budget system designed to improve spending efficiency and link financial allocations to specific objectives and measurable outcomes.
For his part, Harris reaffirmed Washington's support for the new Iraqi government, stressing US readiness to assist Iraq in addressing financial challenges and achieving a more stable and prosperous economic future.
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The United States has repeatedly linked its support for Iraq to progress on consolidating state control over weapons, a process the Iraqi government has said it aims to complete by September.
The discussions came hours after government spokesperson Haider Al-Abboudi announced that the Council of Ministers had approved the drafting of a program budget in cooperation with the World Bank and the parliamentary Finance Committee as part of wider reform efforts. He described the initiative as an independent investment vehicle separate from Iraq's general budget. The mechanism is expected to draw on contributions from Iraq's international partners, backed by guarantees estimated at between $100 billion and $150 billion, to promote sustainable economic stability through investment rather than direct government spending.
