Baghdad -The economist, Dergham Muhammad Ali, confirmed that the delay in approving the budget will force Parliament to discuss it superficially without going carefully through its items.

Muhammad Ali said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency that “the delay in the budget law so far does not give Parliament sufficient time to discuss it and amend its items, especially if there is a financial aspect in those items that requires returning them to the government to amend its paragraphs and return them again to Parliament, and this means that two seasons of the year will end without budget, which makes it difficult to benefit from the large investment aspect specified in it.

He added, “Successive governments have not presented budgets for projects and are satisfied with balancing the classic items, which makes parliament’s discussions superficial without going carefully through its items.”

The economist called for making allocations to complete the construction of electric power plants from the simple cycle to the full cycle in order to get the maximum benefit from gaseous fuel and reduce harmful emissions.

The preparation of the draft budget is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance, which in turn submits it to the Council of Ministers to enrich and vote on it, before it is referred to Parliament for enactment within a law.

Iraq did not approve the 2022 draft budget due to the political crisis that has gripped the country since the “early” elections were held on October 10, 2021.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency