Najib: Salaries are a red line, and borrowing adds new burdens to Iraq

Time: 10/27/2020 21:14:26
 
(Baghdad: Al Furat News) Najeeb Najeeb, a former member of the Parliament's Finance Committee, described the salaries of employees and retirees as a "red line."

"The salaries of employees and retirees are a red line, and the government is obligated to provide them on time, as it is the only income for citizens," Naguib said.

And she added, "The numbers that are announced about those with higher salaries are inaccurate, exaggerated and not based on a database."

The reporter of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Al-Saffar, revealed that there are 150,000 double-salary employees, indicating that dealing with this issue will save more than a trillion dinars per month.

Regarding government borrowing, Najib explained, "Borrowing increases new burdens on the government’s shoulders, especially since it includes interest, and instead of the government managing projects, it remains hostage to the financial obligations of the states or the parties that lent them the money."

She continued, "

Najib concluded that "the problem of the state budget is to increase the volume of public spending, and the government must reduce this spending to get out of this dilemma."

On September 14, the Council of Ministers headed by Mustafa Al-Kazemi, Chairman of the Council, approved the draft general budget bill for the current year 2020. A

document issued by the Ministry of Finance showed that the value of the proposed budget is 120 trillion and 160 billion dinars (100.4 billion dollars), with a deficit of 70 trillion and 637 billion dinars. Iraqi ($ 58.8 billion).

The document indicated that the deficit was funded by $ 40.7 billion, and the remaining deficit was $ 18.4 billion.

Wafa Al-Fatlawi  

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