Iraqi govt froze appointments, bonuses abiding by IMF guidelines

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi government has frozen bonuses for employees and is not hiring more through its 2018 budget as per loan-related directives form the International Monetary Fund, a senior government official was quoted saying on Tuesday.

The London-based The New arab quoted the official saying that the 2018 budget does not include allocations for new appointments in state bodies, including the ministries of defense and interior.

“The budget does not also involve any bonuses or salary raises for public servants”, the official explained, noting that “the step comes in response to recommendations and provisions set by the IMF, from which Iraq is seeking to borrow to bridge the budget deficit”.

He said the international organization had pointed to an “excess of one million jobs, out of four millions”, adding that “those work for no more than 30 minutes a day and their presence is insignificant at all”.

Iraq’s draft budget for 2018 is estimated by nearly USD96 billion, with a projected deficit of USD12 billion.

In 2016, the IMF’s executive board signed a loan to Iraq worth USD5.34 in return for carrying out an economic reform plan.