MP: Parliament received all remarks on the budget

INA - BAGHDAD 

A member of the State of Law Coalition, MP Muhammed Hassan Al-Shimmari, confirmed on Saturday, that the Parliament received parliamentary remarks regarding the draft budget for 2023, pointing out sending it to the government for consideration. 

"The MPs delivered all their observations regarding the budget after the second reading took place. Now, work is underway in the Parliamentary Finance Committee to complete all the proposed observations and amendments to send them to the government," said Al-Shimmari to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He added, "Scheduling the notes may take until the end of next May, and then the government will review these notes before returning the text of the budget to Parliament in preparation for a vote on."

"The Parliament has observations on the budget, including the lack of allocations for the provinces, as they amounted to two and a half trillion dinars only, and the fact that the emergency support law allocated 8-10 trillion dinars for the provinces. We believe that the government is waiting for its disbursement before allocating other sums," he explained. 

Al-Shimmari pointed out, "There are other observations regarding the allocations of the Martyrs Foundation, whose tasks have expanded, and we believe it needs to be increased. The MPs have observations regarding the total deficit of 64 billion, and it must be reduced by making transfers with some items."

He noted, "The best way to increase oil imports and address the deficit, is to renegotiate to restore Iraq's share, which was reduced due to wars and previous circumstances. We acknowledge that the issue is difficult, and we stress the government's necessity to continue claiming rights in OPEC because Iraq's capabilities and share are supposed to be greater than the current one."