PM advisor: Financing 2021 budget deficit, borrowing excluded

INA – BAGHDAD
 
Adviser to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mudher Muhammad Salih, confirmed on Wednesday, that the improvement in oil revenues allowed financing this year's budget deficit away from borrowing.
 
“The expenditure ranges in the operational budget in particular, are still high and depleting public revenues, including oil revenues, which have improved to compensate the planned deficit in the general budget for the fiscal year 2021, and to finance it with increases in oil revenues instead of credit expansion,” Salih said in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
 
Salih included, "Non-oil revenues are still below the planned level in supporting budget revenues and diversifying revenues outside the oil resources,"
 
"With the increase in these spending ranges in favor of the operating budget, which is of a mostly consumer nature, the opportunities available from improving oil revenues did not increase the sufficient space to operate 6000 government investment projects worth more than $100 billion, most of which are suspended. Those projects will take the natural path to implementation in order to maximize economic growth rates in the country and raise employment levels," he explained.
 
He stated that "what is allocated annually for the purposes of government investment projects, more than half goes to the sustainability of the energy sector, and the remaining part is absorbed by the necessities of maintaining municipal service projects to a minimum,"
 
On the other hand, Salih pointed out "the opportunity to help strengthen investment activity and raise employment rates for the unemployed, in addition to what is available annually from government investment, is summed up in going towards the advancement of investment opportunities for the private sector, a strategic role assumed by the National Investment Commission currently and investment departments in the governorates,"