Iraq: the reasons for delay in the distribution of salaries are unknown
Shafaq News / The Parliamentary Finance Committee said, on Tuesday, that the government's financial liquidity to pay the salaries of employees is available, stressing that the Ministry did not ask the banks to pay salaries.
The committee’s rapporteur, Ahmed Al-Saffar, told Shafaq News agency that, “the local and external borrowing law has come into effect after the presidency approved it".
Moreover, Al-Saffar added that, "the government has formally directed the Ministry of Finance to expedite the payment of employee salaries, but we do not know the reason for the ministry's delay. We expect that the salaries will be disbursed within the next few days".
Earlier this month, the Iraqi Council of Representatives approved a law that would allow the government to borrow internally and externally to cover the country's fiscal deficit.
The majority of the parliament voted, during the session, in the presence of 168 MPs (out of 329), to pass a draft law submitted by the government regarding internal and external borrowing.
Furthermore, the government has submitted the law draft that includes an amount $ 5 billion of external borrowing, and 15 trillion dinars of internal borrowing to address the financial deficit in the country.
It is noteworthy that the Iraqi government is struggling to secure employee salaries and other operating expenses due to the collapse in oil prices, which has paralyzed large sectors of the world economy. The country relies on the revenues from the sale of crude oil to finance 95% of the country's expenditures.
