The government program addresses the unilateralism of the economy, and the almost absolute dominance of oil: Al-Sudani’s advisor

 
Baghdad-INA
 
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Mohammad Salih, identified two directions for the essential features set by the government program, stressing that the government program addresses the unilateralism of the economy and the almost absolute dominance of oil.
 
"The essential features of the government program which was approved by the Parliament in October 2022, are moving in two directions to address the unilateralism of the economy and the almost absolute dominance of oil over the economic life in Iraq," Saleh told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
He added, “The first trend is in the field of public finance, which looks forward to the gradual decline of the share of oil revenues in total public revenues from 93% to 80% ", requiring the accuracy and speed of achieving the public finances of smuggled tax bases, as well as supporting policies for private activities that contribute to maximizing per capita income levels and GDP in general, this trend is the source of tax bases supporting public finances from non-oil revenues ".
He pointed out that "the second trend is represented by actively spreading the role of development funds funded by oil revenues, which the government program referred to in order to provide concessional financing that encourages development in the activities that the private sector contributes to its advancement, especially industrial, service, digital and agricultural activities, in a way that guarantees economic diversification." Gradually, the national economy will be freed from the bondage of oil unilateralism.
 
Salih  pointed out ,"The second trend is to promote the role of development funds financed by oil revenues and effectively, referred to in the government program in order to provide concessional and encouraging financing for development in activities that the private sector contributes to their advancement, in particular industrial, service, digital and agricultural service activity, in a way that guarantees economic diversification and gradually frees the national economy from the bondage of oil unilateralism."
 
He continued: “I believe that it is necessary to reconsider activating the national strategy for the advancement of the private sector, which was adopted years ago, to ensure an increase in the contribution of civil activity to the gross domestic product, and to lift the productive private sector from its current situation, whose contribution to the annual national product does not exceed 35% to become 53% during the stages of economic development, particularly in the current decade, provided that this strategy ensures that unemployment and unemployment rates are reduced from its current levels of two decimal places to one decimal place at the acceptable natural break of unemployment in Iraq, which is only 3% of the total economically active population or the total planned or desired workforce ".