'Unprecedented' fiscal gap: Iraq's debt exceeds $130B
Shafaq News/ Iraq's public debt has surpassed $130B, as the government faces a widening fiscal deficit and delays in finalizing the 2025 federal budget, a lawmaker cautioned on Thursday.
MP Raed al-Maliki stated that the Ministry of Finance has yet to prepare budget schedules due to the Central Bank's refusal to authorize further borrowing.
'Revenues can't even cover salaries, and the fiscal gap is unprecedented,' al-Maliki noted after a meeting with Finance Minister Taif Sami.
He criticized the government's recent endorsement of the second phase of the 'Beautiful Baghdad' beautification project—estimated at $122M—arguing the funds should instead address contractor arre ars and suspended infrastructure works.
'The government is spending billions on cosmetic ventures while essential infrastructure remains stalled and funded through borrowing,' he remarked.
'This mirrors the 2016 liquidity crisis, and history risks repeating itself.' The lawmaker further accused the administration of confiscating employee benefit allocations, delaying promotions and raises, and liquidating public assets—such as residential properties in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone—to cover operating expenses.'Parliament's silence is enabling poor governance and deepening the burden on Iraq's economy,' al-Maliki concluded. 'The financial crisis is real.'
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