Controversy over Iraq’s budget has resurfaced, but this time from a political aspect.
As the government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani insists that no major changes should be made in the budget for the current year 2023, the political parties see the budget as a gateway to stand up to the government, especially following the premier’s recent announcement of a cabinet reshuffle.
The budget suffers from a large deficit, but the political blocs found in this an opportunity for more quarrels with the government. In addition, setting the price of oil at $70 per barrel is considered by the political and parliamentary blocs as a risk with unsafe consequences. If prices fall, the deficit will increase.
Nonetheless, the most important political aspect for the political forces, including Sudani’s partners, is setting a budget for a period of three years, which would give the government absolute powers in terms of financial spending, perhaps without returning to parliament.
Sudani, for his part, seems self-confident, but not very assured about his partners. In his last television interview, he spoke about restoring the Iraqi people’s trust in the political system.
In fact, the measures that the prime minister initiated at the level of services and economic reforms began to yield positive results, the most important of which is the US dollar price, which has started to decline against the Iraqi dinar.
In this context, Economist Bassem Antoine told Asharq Al-Awsat that the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar “will return to the official rate set by the government after the approval of the financial budget.”
He added: “There are those who exploited the dollar file over the past months,” noting that the measures adopted by the government and the central contributed to stopping the rise of the dollar.
