Parliamentary Finance: The White Paper includes 5 stages, and we will discuss it with the Ministries of Finance and Planning

Time: 10/14/2020 12:55:10
 
{Baghdad: Al Furat News} The Parliamentary Finance Committee described the "white paper" that it received yesterday and prepared by the government with the aim of financial and economic reform throughout the country.

"The committee discussed the white paper, and there will be a session with the ministries of finance and planning to reach unified solutions to get out of the current financial crisis," the committee's rapporteur, Ahmed Al-Saffar, said in a press statement today.

He added, "This paper differs from what was presented by previous governments, as it was a condition of Parliament in approving borrowing and financial reforms, and if not applied on the ground, the Iraqi economic and financial reality is going to unknown."

Al-Saffar stressed, "The paper includes a good reading of the financial situation and the reasons in which Iraq faced these crises and their stages, and it is reasonable in achieving stability in revenues and expenditures, reform and controlling public money, and this is very important because there is mismanagement in it."

And that "this paper includes five stages, and aims to restructure the financial and economic sector in Iraq, as the first stage focuses on achieving financial stability and getting out of the current crisis by rationalizing expenditures, enhancing revenues, improving cash flow and reforming the administration, which is called the stabilization stage."

He explained that "the second stage, which adopts macroeconomic reforms according to strategic principles, consists of 6 paragraphs, the first of which concerns the productive sectors that include: (rehabilitation of the financial and banking sectors, the insurance sector and the stock market), and the second targets the sectors that drive the economy such as: (agriculture, oil and gas) The third focuses on the private sector (through support and simplification of procedures and the provision of job opportunities in this sector), the fourth is to structure self-financed public companies, the fifth is on public works, and the last paragraph of the second phase talks about human development.

Al-Saffar continued, "The third stage of the economic and financial reform paper in Iraq talks about improving basic infrastructure such as: (electric power, transportation, free zones, and industrial cities), and the fourth stage includes providing basic services and directing social care, while the fifth and final stage includes governance. And the legal and administrative environment to enable institutions and individuals to implement the mentioned reforms.

He stressed, "This reform paper is an excellent and comprehensive paper, because it relied on sources and data and includes a comprehensive view of the economy, and set a time period for its completion from 3 to 5 years, and it is like a reform economic development plan to restructure the financial and economic sector," indicating that "if The appropriate environment was provided and the government was able to implement and implement this paper; The country's economic situation will change, and it will emerge from the state of financial crises, ”noting that“ submitting this reform paper is a (justification) for passing the fiscal deficit law, because one of the conditions for approval is to present the reform paper. ”

He pointed out that "the financial deficit project sent by the government to the House of Representatives, which was transferred to the Parliamentary Finance Committee, is a mini-budget, planned for the remaining four months of the year, and it is also financing some of the obligations from the past months, such as contracts of licenses, debts, interest, and other things."

He pointed out that "the mini-budget includes 38 items, and includes many paragraphs within the operational budget and an investment budget for more than 72 items that include stalled and completed projects at high rates and financing the provinces, and this budget project needs approximately 41 trillion dinars to finance the deficit of the remaining four months, meaning the existence of A monthly deficit of nearly 10 trillion dinars, after accounting for expenses and revenues.

Ammar Al-Masoudi

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