Iraqi Budget Tests Relationship between Sudani, Political Parties

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (Reuters)
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Iraqi Budget Tests Relationship between Sudani, Political Parties

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (Reuters)

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.



Qatar’s Budget Registers Deficit in Q1, First Since 2020

A view of Qatar’s capital, Doha. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A view of Qatar’s capital, Doha. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Qatar’s Budget Registers Deficit in Q1, First Since 2020

A view of Qatar’s capital, Doha. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A view of Qatar’s capital, Doha. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Qatar, the world's second-largest LNG exporter, recorded on Tuesday a budget deficit of 529 million riyals ($145.3 million) in the first quarter of 2025, marking the country’s first deficit since 2020.

Qatar achieved a budget surplus of 2 billion riyals ($548.9 million) in the first quarter of 2024 and a surplus of 930 million riyals ($255 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In a statement on the X platform, the Finance Ministry said the deficit was covered through debt instruments.

Qatar expected a budget deficit of 13.2 billion riyals for 2025, while the total expected revenues for the 2025 fiscal year budget was estimated at 197 billion riyals with an average oil price of $60 per barrel.

“Total revenue in the quarter stood at 49.4 billion riyals ($13.57 billion), down 7.5% from the same quarter last year,” the Ministry said on Tuesday, noting that these revenues comprised 42.5 billion riyals in oil and gas revenues and 6.9 billion riyals in non-oil revenues.

The Ministry statement further noted that total public expenditure during the first quarter of 2025 amounted to roughly 49.9 billion riyals, registering a 2.8% decline compared to the first quarter of 2024.

The expenditure was allocated as follows: 16.9 billion riyals for salaries and wages, 18.5 billion riyals for current expenditures, 13.1 billion riyals for major capital expenditures, and 1.2 billion riyals for minor capital expenditures.

The statement highlighted that the total value of government procurement contracts executed through tenders and auctions by public entities during the first quarter of 2025 amounted to approximately 6.4 billion riyals.

Contracts awarded to foreign companies totaled around 1.5 billion riyals, marking a 50% increase compared to the first quarter of 2024.

Overall, the Ministry stated that the top four sectors according to the Business Activity Index during the first quarter of 2025 were municipality and environment, health, energy, and the General Secretariat of the government.