2020/08/24 15:22
Baghdad today - Baghdad
Today, Monday, the Ministry of Finance issued a statement clarifying the outstanding matters with the Kurdistan region, confirming its commitment to its constitutional duties for economic and financial reform and public financial management.
The ministry stated in a statement received (Baghdad Today), that it " affirms its commitment to its constitutional duties, economic and financial reform, and public financial management, including its obligations towards the Kurdistan Regional Government without the existence of the draft Federal Budget Law for the year / 2020. "
She added, " When the government took over in the month of May / 2020, it was decided not to proceed immediately in drafting the budget for the year / 2020 until the stability of oil prices in the global markets for the purpose of knowing the most obvious revenues, and the ministry also had to compensate the revenues resulting from the collapse of oil prices and the decrease in demand for it. And Iraq's obligations under the OPEC Plus agreement . "
The ministry continued, " The Coronavirus epidemic has led to the emergence of additional demands on state expenditures as well as very large additions to public salaries as a result of previous government commitments in the field of employment and employment, and the Ministry of Finance must also deal with the large number of new graduates who are waiting for jobs. From the state in light of the instability of oil prices on the global markets and the decline in revenues from it . "
And she added, " During the month of May / 2020, the government agreed to transfer (400) billion dinars to the Kurdistan Regional Government in case of emergency to meet the demands of regional government employees who had not received their salaries for several months, and this funding was subject to entering into discussions with the regional government to solve all The outstanding issues between the federal government and the regional government regarding oil and non-oil revenues .
She emphasized, " The discussions have started in multiple rounds to reach a final agreement in light of the mutual obligations between the two sides and based on the agreement's basis, the Ministry of Finance has not made any financial transfers to the region since the April payment, and yet the financial conditions of the Kurdistan Regional Government have deteriorated and requests have been submitted again." To the Ministry of Finance to provide funding to the Kurdistan Regional Government in order to meet the expenses of the salaries of its employees, and a seven-point agreement (attached) between the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of the region’s government was concluded on 8/15/2020 on the basis of which the Finance Ministry was invited to finance (320 (One billion dinars in August / 2020 to the region, and this amount is based mainly on the ministry’s estimates of the region’s share of federal expenditures, and from it the estimates of the Ministry of Finance about the region’s oil and non-oil imports . "
"The Ministry of Finance considered that the aforementioned amount in light of the current circumstances and within the framework of the goodwill atmosphere that prevailed in the discussions between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, and based on the fact that the funding request submitted by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, which includes the approval of the legal department therein, falls within the reasonable and will be modified later by increase or decrease." In the final calculation between the federal government and the regional government, and based on all that, the Ministry of Finance approved this request on 8/17/2020 and authorized the financing of an amount of (320) billion dinars to the Kurdistan Regional Government for the month of August / 2020 .
The Ministry of Finance stressed, "the necessity to proceed with the dialogue to implement the attached interim agreement regarding customs and oil revenues, the region’s commitment to the (OPEC Plus) agreement and settlement of the debts of the Trade Bank of Iraq TBI, and this must be done within 30 days ."
She explained that, " Therefore, the total funds made by the Ministry of Finance since the beginning of this year are (1,360) trillion dinars through the previous government and (720) billion dinars by the current government, with a total of (2.080) trillion dinars ."
The ministry concluded its statement that it will present the draft budget law for the year / 2020 before the end of next September of this year, and the funds will be determined to the regional government. For the sums allocated to the region, and the Ministry of Finance will clarify the financial basis for the funding for the region’s government in the final budget of 2021 .
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