The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed part of the proceedings of its closed meeting with the government team authorized to negotiate with the Kurdistan Region to implement the instructions of the Federal General Budget Law.

Member of the committee, MP Youssef Al-Kalabi, said in a press conference, “The Finance Committee began today, the first joint meeting to find out the facts about the disbursement of the Kurdistan region’s share and the outstanding problems therein, with the” Diwani Affairs Committee, which is officially authorized by the federal government to negotiate with the region’s delegation,” where the two sides held four joint meetings in which they committed, in the first meeting documented with signatures, to ensure that all decisions were agreed upon while adhering to the provisions of the General Budget Law.

He explained, “After researching the budget law and its implementation instructions and mechanisms, we found that the budget law stipulates dealing with the Kurdistan region similarly to other governorates and all Ministries, but this mechanism for disbursing funds is not consistent with the previous mechanism that the Kurdistan region has used in previous years.”

The member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee stressed, “According to the current law and the instructions in force, the funds owed to the Kurdistan region can never be released without the regional government’s commitment to implementing all obligations related to the provisions of the General Budget Law, in Articles 11-12-13, which is the delivery of non-oil revenues, similar to the governorates and all other Ministries.

He went on to say, “As of the current General Budget Law, all revenues entering the region must be officially deposited in full with the Federal Ministry of Finance. We agreed on this in the House of Representatives and voted on it in the General Budget Law, and the Ministry of Finance is committed in return to releasing these funds.”

He continued, “It is never possible, and no person, whether the Prime Minister, the Federal Government, the Minister of Finance, or any other governmental body, has the authority to release funds to the region, without there being a corresponding commitment to the new mechanism, which is the same followed in all governorates of Iraq, which is to deliver the funds before Receiving dues.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency