The Finance Committee reveals obstacles to the implementation of the White Paper: Harmful to the interests of influential people

Reporter of the Finance Committee, Ahmed Al-Saffar, revealed obstacles to the implementation of the White Paper, as it harms the interests of some influential people.

The official news agency quoted Al-Saffar as saying: The recommendations of the Finance Committee paper consist of a package of reforms consisting of three axes, the first is related to maximizing revenues and rationalizing or reducing expenditures, the second relates to re-correcting the course of the fiscal and monetary policy, and the third concerns the general economic policy in Iraq.

According to Al-Saffar, the white paper needs will, boldness and specialized management, revealing obstacles to the white paper represented by political, security and corruption aspects, as the paper aims at reforms that harm the interests of some influential people.
 
Regarding the time needed by the Finance Committee to approve the government's general budget for 2021, Al-Saffar said that it "needs more than a month at least."

Earlier, the Finance Committee in the Iraqi Parliament presented a set of "procedural proposals to address the financial crisis" in Iraq, including preparing a new salary scale, imposing annual taxes on cars, issuing an electronic dinar, imposing a sales tax system of 12% and compulsory insurance.

During the Finance Committee’s presentation of its proposals, which came in a document that Rudaw Media Network received a copy of, it said that this is its vision to address the economic and financial crisis in Iraq "quickly and directly, according to a set of procedural proposals that focused on maximizing revenues and rationalizing expenditures."

Among the parliamentary finance proposals: immediate activation of compulsory collection of services provided to government, commercial, industrial, agricultural and household institutions, directing the budget for salaries, purchasing the ration, medicine, water stations and the educational process only, and preparing a new salary scale.

The Parliamentary Finance also proposed imposing a sales tax of 12%, transferring the sectors of distributing petroleum products, refineries and bottling gas to the private sector, and stopping the free distribution of petroleum products to any party.

Amending the laws on insurance to comply with compulsory insurance for cars, expatriates, travelers, gas stations, imported materials, companies, crude oil, housing units, and others, among the proposals submitted by the Parliament.

Parliamentary finance did not stop at these proposals, and it was also suggested that the Iraqi public budget be limited to salaries and buy the ration, medicines, water stations and the educational process only.

The Iraqi Council of Representatives voted at dawn on Thursday (12 November 2020) on the fiscal deficit financing law, with the aim of providing the necessary funds to secure employee salaries and government expenditures.

Since it was granted confidence last May, Mustafa Al-Kazemi's government has been suffering from an economic crisis due to the drop in oil prices and the Corona pandemic, and that crisis was reflected in the salaries of employees.

https://www.rudaw.net/arabic/business/291120201