Al-Zaidi Confirms Imminent Budget Submission to Parliament with Economic Improvement Expected Next Year

Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi announced the imminent submission of the general budget bill to the parliament for approval. During a televised interview, he stated that the government is finalizing the budget project and will soon present it to the parliament. He emphasized that the government has not halted the disbursement of financial dues or funding of essential needs while awaiting the budget approval, but has taken measures to secure necessary funds for vital sectors. He pointed out that payments have been released to farmers and contractors, along with allocations for medicine, food, and other basic necessities. He confirmed that the budget project takes into account many economic, financial, and social aspects. He also affirmed that the country’s economic and financial situation next year will be better compared to the current year, due to ongoing economic reforms implemented by the government. He noted that citizens will notice the results of several measures and reforms during the upcoming year. Regarding non-oil revenues, the prime minister revealed a plan to increase their contribution to the general budget and reduce dependence on crude oil sales. He mentioned that non-oil revenues previously accounted for between 6 and 8 percent of total revenues, while this percentage has been raised in the new budget project to between 18 and 19 percent. He explained that this increase was achieved despite the government counting additional revenues from the re-pricing of locally supplied oil within oil revenues, not non-oil revenues. He clarified that amounts totaling 23.8 trillion dinars, with a net of 19.8 trillion dinars, were included in oil revenues, although they were not previously accounted for in this way. He added that some could have counted these amounts as non-oil revenues, since oil revenues were calculated based only on crude oil sales, but the government chose to include them under oil revenues. He confirmed that raising the share of non-oil revenues from 6-8 percent previously to about 19 percent currently represents a significant step in financial reform. He disclosed that the government aims to increase the contribution of non-oil revenues to 30 percent of total revenues during the remaining years of its term.