Rejection to pass general budget before exposing previous accounts – MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A Parliamentary Integrity Commission member Jawad al-Shuhaili expressed rejection of his commission to pass the general budget before exposing the final accounts of the previous years, charging the Finance Commission of “unvocational”. Shuhaili told IraqiNews.com that the financial figures of the previous years are “huge”, either wasted or stolen by influential politicians on “phony” projects. He added that the budget has many remarks and problems. Iraqi Parliament is discussing the budget after being postponed more than one time. He criticized both the financial commission and the minister of finance for the misgivings that do not coincide with international auditing standards. The Iraqi government decided to submit the general budget to the Parliament after being reduced to reach 115 trillion dinars. The general budget law decided to allocate 131 trillion dinars (112 billion dollars) as a federal budget with an increase of 36% from the previous year, with a deficit of 20 billion dollars.