Sami Denies Government Amendments to 2023 Budget, Threatens Legal Action

Sami Denies Government Amendments to 2023 Budget, Threatens Legal Action
2023-06-06T19:07:12+00:00

Shafaq News / Iraqi Finance Minister Taif Sami refuted rumors of governmental amendments to the 2023 budget bill on Tuesday, signaling her readiness to legally challenge the budget if it is legislatively approved with modified clauses.

"The Finance Minister Taif Sami denies the information circulated through social media and news agencies, which claim that the Finance Minister has made exchanges in the 2023 general budget project," the Ministry of Finance's media office declared in a statement.

The statement underscored that Sami is actually fervently defending all clauses in the budget bill, and emphasized that the Ministry will take legal action against the budget if it is approved with alterations to the clauses introduced by the government.

Minister Sami highlighted that the governmental clauses and appropriations were based on a meticulous evaluation of the needs of the ministries and provinces and met all requirements in line with the government's vision and program. She cautioned that any changes would hinder spending operations planned by the government to meet all needs.

The Iraqi Parliament scheduled voting on the triennial budget project for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 for the day after tomorrow, Thursday. However, the 2023 Iraqi financial budget bill remains stalled six months into the current year. Although the parliamentary finance committee has settled the majority of the budget's provisions, a sudden dispute over certain items has led to postponing the vote until further notice.

Both the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Kurdistan Islamic Union withdrew from the finance committee meetings, protesting alterations to articles 13 and 14 of the budget law, deemed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party as a betrayal of the political agreements that led to the formation of the "State Administration" coalition and the current government led by Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.

The parliamentary finance committee voted on several amendments related to the Kurdistan region, including an alteration to article 13-second (a), which initially stipulated Kurdistan region's commitment to export no less than 400,000 barrels of oil daily. However, after the modification, this clause now stipulates that the region must hand over the crude oil produced in its fields at a rate of no less than 400,000 barrels daily to the Ministry of Oil for export through the state-owned SOMO company or for domestic use in Iraqi refineries.

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