Finance Minister Confirms Significant Progress in Completing Program and Performance Budget Preparation

Iraq's Minister of Finance, Faleh Sary, affirmed on Thursday significant progress in completing the requirements for preparing the program and performance budget. The Ministry of Finance stated in a communiqué that Minister Sary continued his meetings on Thursday to monitor the outcomes of the work in preparing the draft program and performance budget. The meetings were attended by the Governor of Salah al-Din, a delegation representing the Kurdistan Regional Government, members of Parliament, as well as representatives from various ministries, governorates, and governmental bodies. During the gathering, a review was conducted of the achievements made within the budget preparation stages, in accordance with approved timelines. Discussions also covered the findings reached by working teams, along with observations and proposals aimed at finalizing the project requirements. The Minister emphasized that the Ministry has made substantial progress in fulfilling the requirements for preparing the program and performance budget, clarifying that the objective of this shift is to move from focusing on the volume of financial allocations to measuring actual outcomes and objectives by linking budgets with programs, projects, and performance indicators. The Minister called for bilateral meetings between the committees responsible for budget preparation and the Kurdistan Regional Government delegation in the coming days. He stressed that full transparency in disclosing financial data and revenues is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving a realistic and accurate budget. These meetings, according to the communiqué, are part of an ongoing process to complete the program and performance budget project, which paves the way for a gradual transformation in the methodology of preparing the state's general budget.