The newspapers issued today, Sunday, followed the budget and Iraq’s procedures regarding the issue of money laundering.
Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, quoted the Parliamentary Finance Committee as saying that discussion of the 2024 budget schedules had begun, and indicating that it had submitted a list of clarifications and questions to the government about some financial allocations. The MP, Firas Al-Muslimaoui confirmed that the budget will take time to be approved because it includes accounting numbers.
Member of the Finance Committee, MP, Mustafa Al-Karawi, said: ‘The Finance Committee began discussing the budget tables that arrived from the government, and comparisons were prepared between the amounts and allocations recorded in these tables compared to what was achieved in the 2023 budget at the level of allocations and financing.’ Confirming: We began with the supporting team and advisors within the committee to draw a picture of what was achieved in 2023,
what was allocated to it and what was allocated in 2024, to discuss the differences in these schedules.
He added: A list of clarifications and questions was prepared to the Ministry of Finance, which was submitted to explain the reasons for the increase in allocations, the reasons for not funding many sections, the mechanism for collecting oil and non-oil revenues, what are their procedures regarding increasing non-oil revenues, and how what was suffered in 2023 will be addressed as non-oil revenues amounted to 11 trillion, and the plan was 17 trillion in the 2023 budget. He continued: Now the government has committed itself to the non-oil revenues in the 2024 schedules amounting to 27 trillion. There is approximately 16 trillion additional, so we asked the Finance Ministry for the mechanism that the government will follow in collecting these revenues.
For his part, the MP of the State of Law coalition, Firas Al-Muslimaoui, said: ‘Parliament is facing a great responsibility that cannot be waived or stopped,
which is legislating laws, performing the oversight role, and approving the budget schedules, given that the budget that we voted on is a tripartite budget for three continuous years, but we will vote on tables that include financial figures and do not include written paragraphs.
He added: The budget tables contain numbers mathematically, and therefore the House of Representatives can increase, decrease, or vote on the budget tables that came from the Council of Ministers, and this will take time to approve.
The Finance Committee in the House of Representatives held its second meeting regarding the 2024 budget, confirming its intention to complete the budget schedules before the start of the legislative recess.
The head of the committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, said during the meeting: ‘We held the second meeting to discuss the 2024 budget schedules,’ pointing out, ‘We are analyzing the data of the budget schedules and discussing their contents in detail to achieve them in an optimal manner and in record time. We
are also working to establish a correct financial path that everyone agrees upon.’
Al-Atwani explained that ‘the meeting compared the numbers and tables for the financial allocations for the years 2023-2024, and the meeting also included reviewing a detailed report of the actual expenditure for the year 2023 with regard to current and investment expenditures,’ stressing ‘the determination to complete the budget schedules before the start of the legislative recess.’
Last Wednesday, the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives held its first meeting to review the contents of the 2024 budget tables.
Al-Sabah newspaper paid attention to Iraq’s measures to combat money laundering and said that economic circles specialized in financial affairs welcomed what was stated in the mutual evaluation report of the Republic of Iraq, regarding Iraq’s role in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and that strengthening the financial performance in Iraq represents an important step in harmony w
ith the trends of the government aims to bring major investments into the country, which requires a developed and ideal financial sector that ensures money flows in the right direction.
In its general meeting held in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) adopted the mutual assessment report for the Republic of Iraq, which reflects its great commitment to applying international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The report reflects the solid system in Iraq to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and the important efforts undertaken by the state to combat these crimes in accordance with international standards in this regard.
Executive Director of the Iraqi Banks Association, Ali Tariq, said: This evaluation did not come out of nowhere, but was preceded by great work and concerted efforts to adopt global performance standards that continued for years, and the Central Bank had the most important role in this matter
, by working to invest risks and laying solid foundations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Tariq added that regulating the financial sector in Iraq represents everyone’s goal, in order to create a banking system capable of providing services that rise to global standards, and reflect a positive image of Iraq’s financial reality in front of the major international banks, pointing out that Iraq is in dire need of developing its performance, as we have a large, broad and growing business, and this requires the presence of a highly organized financial sector.
Financial affairs specialist Raghad Nabil Al-Alusi said: The adoption of international standards has begun to reflect a positive image of the local financial sector, which has begun to adopt advanced systems in its daily performance and in providing services to customers, pointing out that when the evaluation comes internationally, this is an indication that Iraq is on the right path to strengthen its financial sector and move to a new s
tage that is compatible with global trends.
She stated that the global business that wants to enter the Iraqi market is interested in such reports that change the view of international companies about Iraq and its financial sector, and such reports represent the presence of serious Iraqi work to develop the financial sector, and we see the presence of a great effort being made by the Central Bank under the guidance of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani to improve the performance of the Iraqi financial sector.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency