The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed a government directive regarding new projects in all governorates, in contravention of the Federal General Budget Law.

Committee member MP Mustafa Sanad stated, in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA), that “the Prime Minister directed all governorates not to send any plan for new projects without the approval of the Supreme Coordinating Authority between the governorates, and this is a clear violation of the general budget law, as this paragraph has been deleted in the House of Representatives during the vote on the law.”

He added, “We entered the month of October 2023, and the instructions of the General Budget Law have been in effect for more than two months, but until now the Ministry of Finance and the central government have not funded the governorates, whether ongoing or new projects.”

He explained, “The Prime Minister’s directive contradicts decentralization, and there is resentment from governors and MPs regarding funding payments to the Kurdistan region for delayed salaries of employees, because there are entitlements to the provinces that have not been funded yet,” indicating that “there are entitlements to contractors for ongoing projects and completed projects, but until today, the majority of contractors in all governorates have not received their dues, and no governorate has been funded with any amount in projects and advances owed to contractors, and this is reflected in the plan for new projects for the general budget that is still in the drawers of the Ministry of Planning.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency