The Finance Committee Reports Violations Against The Federal Government: Sending Money To Kurdistan Outside The Scope Of The Law, 25 JAN

 The Finance Committee Reports Violations Against The Federal Government: Sending Money To Kurdistan Outside The Scope Of The Law

Posted On 01-24-2024 By Sotaliraq  Baghdad/Zayer Ali   The Parliamentary Finance Committee in the Iraqi Parliament believes that the central government committed violations by sending more than 700 billion Iraqi dinars to the Kurdistan government, while indicating that sending money is outside the scope of the law.

Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Muhammad Nouri, says, “The federal government committed a violation, and it is not the first time,” noting that “the Baghdad government had previously paid more than 7 billion Iraqi dinars to the Kurdistan Regional Government outside the scope of the law and through legal loopholes that are not real.”

He added, "The government exceeded the provisions of the general financial budget, which obligated the region to pay imports to the central government, as well as to pay what is collected from oil and revenues from border crossings."

Al-Nouri pointed out, “The region did not pay any of these revenues, according to what Finance Minister Taif Sami stated during her meeting with the Parliamentary Finance Committee during the current week.”

The member of the House of Representatives pointed out that “the government’s violation casts a shadow over the allocations of the other 15 governorates,” noting that “the government justifies these allocations by saying that they are to pay the salary entitlements of the region’s employees. The regional government did not pay the employees’ allowances and forced them to compulsory savings.”

In December 2023, the Federal Ministry of Finance announced the launch of a loan worth 700 billion dinars to finance the salaries of Kurdistan Region employees.

The Federal Ministry of Finance also stated in a statement, “In implementation of the directives of the Prime Minister and the follow-up of the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami Muhammad, the Ministry issued letters granting the regional government a loan worth 700 billion dinars to cover the salaries of the region’s employees by guaranteeing a deposit provided to the Federal Ministry of Finance, provided that it is settled from dues.” The region after their commitment to the provisions of the budget law, based on the approval of the Council of Ministers and in implementation of what was stated in its resolution No. (23520) of 2023.”

The ministry added that this “came out of keenness to implement its procedures in accordance with what was stated in the Federal General Budget Law No. 13 of 2023, including securing the financial rights of those entitled to it, and as confirmation of the government’s keenness to meet the requirements of employees in the Kurdistan region, and to implement financial reforms aimed at promoting economic growth.”

Economic affairs researcher Nabil Al-Marsoumi believes that “the confusion that occurred is due to two reasons. The first is the cessation of the region’s revenues after the cessation of exports to Turkey,” noting that “the other reason is that Kurdistan’s share is calculated by the value of actual spending, not planned.”

He added, “The loan approved by the Council of Ministers was preceded by a group of loans amounting to 2.5 trillion dinars,” pointing out that Kurdistan’s share of 12.67%, which is equivalent to approximately 16 and a half trillion, but what should be transferred is actual spending.[/size]

Al-Marsoumi pointed out, “This is one of the mistakes in the budget, and the salaries item should have been excluded from actual spending because it is the largest percentage, which is equivalent to 9.3 trillion dinars.”

In January 2023, the Federal Court issued a decision canceling all government decisions related to transferring funds to the Kurdistan region.

The court stated in a statement that it “decided to rule that the decisions issued by the Council of Ministers in the years 2021 and 2022 were invalid” regarding transferring funds to the Kurdistan region, adding that “the ruling is now binding on all authorities.”

Last Sunday, Finance Minister Taif Sami confirmed that the Kurdistan Region did not deliver any revenues to the federal government during 2023.

The Parliamentary Finance Committee, headed by Atwan Al-Atwani, hosted the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, to discuss a number of important files, including preparing to make the required amendments to the budget tables for the year 2024.

The head of the committee, Al-Atwani, confirmed that “the meeting came to review the financial path in implementing the items of the tripartite budget and to determine the funding ratios with regard to the implementation of projects and in a manner consistent with the government program and other governing entitlements, as the minister noted that there is a problem with the data for including projects within the investment budget, and that it No funds will be disbursed to government institutions for the year 2024 unless the project components are marked and the imbalance in the allocations for last year’s schedules is addressed.”

He explained, “The most important problems and obstacles facing the implementation of the budget law were also reviewed, most notably the paragraph related to appointments and contracts, and it was agreed with the Minister of Finance to complete the tables for calculating financial costs with a view to launching them in 2024.”

Al-Atwani pointed out that “the Kurdistan region’s oil file was present in today’s meeting with the Minister of Finance, where the latter confirmed that the region did not deliver any financial revenues to the federal government during 2023, and was only satisfied with supplying government refineries with 50,000 barrels of oil per day.”

The Chairman of the Finance Committee stressed “the necessity of finding radical solutions to all outstanding problems with the region, especially after the Turkish side agreed to resume oil exports through the port of Ceyhan, and this requires resolving the issue of production and transportation costs for oil produced from the region’s fields, as well as addressing the problem of salaries of the region’s employees and deportation.” This file is free from any political tensions, calling at the same time on the Kurdistan Regional Government to fully commit to implementing the federal general budget law.” LINK