Urgent call: Iraqi Parliament presses for overdue 2025 budget

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Iraq’s Parliamentary Finance Committee urged the federal government to submit the 2025 budget tables ahead of national elections.

Despite six months passing in the fiscal year, Parliament has not received any official documentation related to budget allocations for 2025. Lawmakers said the absence of data is obstructing the work of financial and oversight bodies and complicating next year’s fiscal planning.

Iraq’s federal budget law, passed in 2023, covers the years 2023 through 2025, but requires the government to submit detailed annual tables for implementation and legislative review each year. The failure to provide these tables has effectively stalled budget execution.

“The government has yet to commit to a timeline for sending the budget tables to Parliament,” committee member Jamal Kocher told Shafaq News. “There are growing fears the budget could be used for electoral purposes.”

Parliamentary sources confirmed to Shafaq News that no formal details on the 2025 allocations have been shared, creating a vacuum that has slowed financial planning and administrative preparation.

The delay has drawn particular scrutiny this year as Iraq heads toward early parliamentary elections. Lawmakers have expressed concern that unallocated funds could be used to influence voters in the absence of parliamentary controls.

Elections are scheduled for November 20, following a previous delay attributed to incomplete legislation and technical hurdles, according to Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission.