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Ex-Iraqi president and PM spent $750 million in two years: newspaper
BAGHDAD,— With oil prices plunging and the government forced to revise its budget estimates for 2015, Prime Minister Haider Abadi is urging tight-belt policies. In a statement early this week he said salaries of senior government officials, including his cabinet, should be slashed by 50 per cent with the start of 2015, though he did not say how much a minister in the government or he himself or the president earned per month. The drop in oil prices, the country’s almost sole hard cash earner, has forced the government to review is spending priorities, particularly at a time it is engaged in ferocious fighting with Islamic State militants who control large swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria. Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari reported to have delayed sending the budget to parliament for approval as he could not settle on an estimate of how oil prices will fare in 2015. A former finance minister, refusing to be named for security reasons, told the Iraqi Azzaman newspaper that senior Iraqi officials like the president and prime minister spent freely during his two-year term and no one could hold them to account. He was referring to former President Jalal Talabani and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki whom he said spent $750 in two years.
Zebari has not made his budget public but says defense will devout a large portion of allocations, which he estimated at 27 per cent to total earnings in 2015.
A source close to Prime Minister Abadi told the newspaper that the government will have to introduce taxes and cut spending or face a huge deficit.
The source, who did not want his name be revealed, said the government was considering putting an end to food rationing system, under which millions of Iraqi families get essential foods almost for free.
Compared with last year, Iraq is expected to lose up to 30% of its oil revenues and the source said to offset the loss the government will have to introduce new taxes that will cover imports and all forms of financial transactions.
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BAGHDAD,— With oil prices plunging and the government forced to revise its budget estimates for 2015, Prime Minister Haider Abadi is urging tight-belt policies. In a statement early this week he said salaries of senior government officials, including his cabinet, should be slashed by 50 per cent with the start of 2015, though he did not say how much a minister in the government or he himself or the president earned per month. The drop in oil prices, the country’s almost sole hard cash earner, has forced the government to review is spending priorities, particularly at a time it is engaged in ferocious fighting with Islamic State militants who control large swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria. Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari reported to have delayed sending the budget to parliament for approval as he could not settle on an estimate of how oil prices will fare in 2015. A former finance minister, refusing to be named for security reasons, told the Iraqi Azzaman newspaper that senior Iraqi officials like the president and prime minister spent freely during his two-year term and no one could hold them to account. He was referring to former President Jalal Talabani and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki whom he said spent $750 in two years.
Zebari has not made his budget public but says defense will devout a large portion of allocations, which he estimated at 27 per cent to total earnings in 2015.
A source close to Prime Minister Abadi told the newspaper that the government will have to introduce taxes and cut spending or face a huge deficit.
The source, who did not want his name be revealed, said the government was considering putting an end to food rationing system, under which millions of Iraqi families get essential foods almost for free.
Compared with last year, Iraq is expected to lose up to 30% of its oil revenues and the source said to offset the loss the government will have to introduce new taxes that will cover imports and all forms of financial transactions.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
