Iraqi President approves 2024 budget

The Iraqi President, Abdel Latif Rashid, has approved several draft bills, including the 2024 budget.

In addition to the 2024 budget, Rashid passed legislation governing prostitution, homosexuality, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), and agricultural land renting, according to a statement released by the Iraqi Presidency.

In early June, the Iraqi parliament approved the country’s proposed budget, aiming to raise expenditures until the end of 2024.

The Iraqi parliament said in a statement that 199 lawmakers out of the 329-member parliament attended a session chaired by the parliament’s acting speaker, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, and endorsed the 2024 budget.

A draft of the budget bill was completed last month by the Iraqi cabinet before it was sent to the Iraqi parliament for approval.

Iraqi lawmakers passed the budget that raised the country’s expenditure to 211 trillion Iraqi dinars (approximately $161 billion).

Iraq approved a record $152 billion three-year budget in June 2023, with 12.6 percent going to the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Iraq’s 2024 budget deficit is around 63 trillion Iraqi dinars (around $48 billion), representing roughly one-third of the budget.

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, said in December that the government is discussing the amendment of relevant laws with the parliamentary financial committee as companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan are waiting for payments to cover production costs.

Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee Mouin Al-Kadhimi said in March that increasing the budget’s overall amount resulted in a rise in the deficit.