2-25-11 Economic Commission: Iraq’s budget deficit will be addressed by raising revenue

Highlights/Thoughts
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1. A member of the economic committee said the budget deficit of $13 bil is not a real and viable treatment
2. He said there is a wide expectation that there will be a balance between the oil revenues and the state financial expenditures
3. He added that the government decided to borrow $5 bil from the IMF, $2 bil from the WB, and $4.5 bil from the surplus of the CBI in case the revenue remained unchanged
4. al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government spokesman, said that the Iraqi Council of Representatives decided that any increases to the oil price or oil production would result in the unplanned revenues being mostly diverted to the budget to bridge the deficit
5. He said that the government decided to raise the investment ratio in the current year budget to 30% at the expense of the operational budget in order to support investment projects
6. The Ministry of Planning and Development said that the issue regarding the operational budget is that they didn't make extensive changes to it for the standard of living of the citizens