A government advisor reveals a legal path that allows securing salaries and obligations without the need for parliament
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, confirmed on Wednesday the possibility of the government resorting to using "short-term advances" to secure salaries and maximum financial obligations, considering this the only legal path available to guarantee public services in light of the current legislative vacuum.
Saleh told Al-Furat News Agency that “the government, in the absence of parliament and with liquidity depleted, does not have the constitutional authority to engage in sovereign borrowing, but it has the legal and legitimate right to use short-term advances from the treasury, financed exclusively by government banks, as part of liquidity management without it being considered sovereign borrowing in the legal sense.”
He added that “this mechanism ensures the securing of priorities, foremost among them salaries, pensions and social welfare, based on the amended Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019,” noting that “Article (3) of the law authorizes the Ministry of Finance to manage liquidity and reallocate it, while the prohibition on borrowing contained in Article (24) applies to borrowing from outside the government sector exclusively.”
Saleh explained that "this measure represents a legal loophole that allows for a practical mechanism that does not require new legislation, and it is the only available path to ensure the continued funding of basic services until the legislative authority is reconstituted and the regulatory financial laws are issued." link