ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's prime minister on Monday defended the three-year federal budget bill prepared by the Council of Ministers and currently before the parliament. He said it "is for all Iraqis" and blasted the corruption in previous budgets. "The budget will not be used as an opportunity for extortion. It is for all Iraqis and does not put the interests of one party over the other," Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani said during a sit-down with journalists in Baghdad. He described the budget as "fair" and one that will allow Iraq's economy to boom. The Council of Ministers in mid-March approved the federal budget bill for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025. Iraq did not have a budget in 2022 because it took a year of negotiations to form a government after October 2021 elections. The lack of a budget jeopardized the oil-dependent economy and prevented the government from taking advantage of soaring oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine to combat poverty and bring much-needed economic stability. "The three-year budget sends a positive message of economic stability to the private sector. International financial institutions have recommended this budget to address the financial, social, and economic challenges faced by Iraq," Sudani said. The budget is currently before the Iraqi parliament. However, its record $152 billion in spending has sparked concerns of instability should oil prices drop below the $70 per barrel threshold set in the bill. Sudani said that it is previous versions of the budget that should have caused concern rather than the one approved by his cabinet. "In previous budgets, it reached a point where a project of a company affiliated to so-and-so in the so-and-so ministry was allocated its share, and the schedules were completely toyed with," he said. "I say this because I was a member of parliament and we investigated." Rampant corruption plagues all levels of the Iraqi state. Eliminating the phenomenon is among Sudani’s priorities. Official figures published last year estimated that well over $400 billion has gone missing from state coffers since former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in 2003. In October, Sudani pledged that "we will not leave out anyone or any name or any party involved, regardless of who they are, and the parties involved will be announced after completing the investigation," referring to recovering embezzled money. Iraq is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International, which ranked it 157 out of 180 nations in 2022. "This budget is an opportunity to forget about the interests of this side or the other," the premier said. Shakhawan Abdullah, second deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, on Sunday called for the passage of the budget to be prioritized. "We should not further delay the approval of the federal budget," he told Rudaw's Sangar Abdulrahman.
