BaghdadThe issue of manipulating the budget tables has raised controversy in the Iraqi street, after trillions of dinars were added to the budget tables in a dramatic manner, and questions were raised about the occurrence of forgery or manipulation between the Iraqi Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Prime Minister’s Office had sent a letter to the House of Representatives to inquire about the manipulation of the budget tables, and indicated that there were 3 copies of the budget, while the Parliamentary Finance Committee decided to form an investigation committee on this issue, followed by another decision from the Acting Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, which included the cancellation of the investigation committee.
Al-Mandlawi confirmed in a press statement issued by his office during the current month that the budget law tables that were approved by the House of Representatives in its approval session are the same ones that the Council of Ministers sent to the House of Representatives without any amendment, noting that the Council Presidency formed a higher committee to investigate the circumstances of the matter.
Economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi pointed out in a post on his Facebook page that the presidency has not approved the 2024 budget schedules and it has not yet been published in the Iraqi Gazette, despite the parliament voting on it about two months ago, confirming the addition of 15 trillion dinars ($11.45 billion) to it.
Engineer Ali Jabbar revealed the existence of 3 copies of the budget tables, asking, “Is it a typo or forgery?”
In a post on the “X” platform, Iraqi parliament member Sarwa Abdul Wahid called for the formation of a parliamentary committee to present its results to the parliament to find out the facts, asking whether the cabinet’s letter was accurate?
After talking about the difference in the budget tables, which reached 8 trillion, it became necessary for the presidency of the council to respond to the letter of the Council of Ministers that was sent on the first of last July, and as a result the head of the Finance Committee ordered the formation of a committee to find out the facts.
It seems that there is a deception on the issue, so we demand the formation of a parliamentary committee…— Srwa Abdulwahid. Srwa Abdulwahid (@srwa_qadir) August 21, 2024
Parliament reveals the truth
Member of the Finance Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Moeen Al-Kadhimi, says that there are several explanations for what happened. Some parties may have manipulated the schedules in a desire to pass them in this way to achieve gains.
He added in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the matter may have been spontaneous, through the introduction of proposed schedules that were not voted on, and a mistake occurred by a specific employee in parliament who sent these schedules inadvertently.
Al-Kadhimi continued, “The government sent budget tables in the amount of 211 trillion dinars ($161.11 billion), which was approved… and it has actually begun making allocations for projects and governorates, even if it was delayed for months, but it is committed to the budget and it has entered into force, and there are no problems for the Ministries of Finance and Planning in implementing its provisions as long as the House of Representatives voted on it.”
Al-Kadhimi added that “the budget law was approved in 2023 by the Presidency of the Republic, considering that it is a three-year budget (3 years), but what was issued today regarding the schedules is a decision that does not require the approval of the Presidency of the Republic and is effective and binding for implementation,” noting that “Parliament voted on the budget schedules on June 3 without changing them and sent a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office with Parliament’s approval of the schedules.”
He continued, “The House of Representatives sent additional tables with the original tables that included some changes in important chapters and articles, with a total increase of 15 trillion dinars ($11.45 billion) in numbers, to reach 211 trillion dinars ($161.11 billion) – 226 trillion dinars ($175.56 billion),” adding, “The Prime Minister objected to the tables in which changes were made.”
He stressed that “these changes did not cause any negative impact on the budget, as the government adhered to the schedules approved by the House of Representatives, but the additional amounts did not enter into force, so the schedules are not considered new.”
He added that Parliament “is investigating the increase in the budget tables approved by the House of Representatives, and we will reach the truth.”
He explained that “the head of the parliamentary finance committee, Atwan Al-Atwani – after the Council of Ministers objected in an official letter – worked to form a committee to investigate the reasons for changing the schedules, but the parliament presidency objected on the grounds that forming committees is within the authority of the council presidency, and the committee chairman responded that this matter is within the committee’s authority to investigate what happened in terms of changing the schedules.”
He stressed that “what happened did not cause any financial damage, especially since the Parliament Presidency worked to form an investigation committee headed by Shakhwan Abdullah, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and other members to investigate what happened, and we will reach a clear result to preserve the decisions of the House of Representatives from distortion and change.”
Regarding the budget deficit, Al-Kadhimi explained that “oil revenues amount to 120 trillion dinars ($91.38 billion) and non-oil revenues amount to 27 trillion ($20.61 billion), which we believe will not be achieved. Therefore, under the best circumstances, revenues will not exceed 150 trillion dinars ($114.53 billion), which means that the deficit will be very large, and there are many projects that will not be funded.”
He stressed that “the salaries of employees, retirees and care are fully secured with a total of 90 trillion dinars ($68.72 billion) in addition to the allocations for electricity, education and health, which are also priority sectors.”
He stressed the “need to work seriously to overcome the deficit, and to raise non-oil revenues to ensure that there is no large budget deficit.”
Solution scenarios
Legal expert, Naktal Abdul Hassan Al Kaabi, says that there are a set of procedures to address the issue of differences in the budget tables, depending on the nature of the doubts and available evidence, pointing out the importance of “coordination between the relevant authorities to ensure that there are no legal, administrative or financial violations or transgressions.”
Al-Kaabi told Al Jazeera Net that “if there are doubts about the inclusion of additional amounts in the budget tables sent from Parliament to the Presidency of the Republic or the government, the matter is dealt with according to the seriousness of these doubts and the nature of the additions.”
He explained that “the concerned presidencies can request a specialized committee to audit the tables to verify the accuracy of the numbers and amounts mentioned, which is a procedure imposed by the nature of transparency and the laws concerned with dealing with such cases.”
He pointed out that “the option of reprinting and correcting these tables if it is considered a simple administrative error during printing is possible without the need to re-vote on them in Parliament.”
He added, “The option of re-voting on the tables inside the parliament is an option that can also be taken if the amounts are very large and represent a fundamental change in those tables to ensure transparency and credibility.”
He stressed that “the laws in force governing these issues are the budget, administrative and financial laws, which determine the requirements for voting on the draft budget.”
He added, “The intervention of the judiciary and the Integrity Commission is also possible if there are suspicions of corruption and major and deliberate manipulation of these tables, based on the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Law No. 30 of 2011, which grants the authority to investigate corruption cases.”
Waiting for the budget to be decided
For his part, economic expert Safwan Qusay explained that “the Parliamentary Finance Committee is investigating the reasons for the discrepancy in the tables received from the government and approved by Parliament, indicating that the investigation process needs some time to find out what actually happened.”
Qusay told Al Jazeera Net, “The current level of public spending is still below the level allocated in the budget. It is supposed that 15 trillion dinars ($11.45 billion) will be spent monthly, but in reality Iraq does not have such oil or non-oil revenues, which has had a direct impact on the investment budget, whether it is approved or not.”
Qusay added that the operating budget is governed by compensation for employee and retiree salaries, welfare, and the ration card, but the slowdown “we see in the investment budget, especially since the level of sales of the Central Bank is still less than $300 million per day, at a rate of $7 to $8 billion per month, which does not cover the expenses allocated in the budget,” he said.
He added, “The Ministry of Finance is still striving to coordinate between the allocations allocated in the budget and what is actually available, and to give priority to service projects, especially those completed at rates exceeding 80%.”
