PM , the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament stress the importance of expediting the approval of the budget

Baghdad-INA

Prime Minister Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohsen al-Mandalawi stressed‏on Wednesday,  the importance of expediting the approval of the budget. 
The media office of the Prime Minister said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): " Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani, met with the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, and members of the Parliamentary Labor and Social Affairs Committee."

The statement added, "During the meeting, coordination and integration between the executive and legislative authorities were emphasized, and the importance of expediting the approval of the budget, in order to facilitate the government's work, and implement its plans aimed at raising the standard of living and reducing poverty, according to what was stated in the five priorities included in the ministerial program, which the government is working to implement it in its government curriculum."

It noted that "the meeting dealt with recent government decisions on mechanisms for the application of laws targeting the segment of private sector workers, such as the Social Security Act, and the Federal Service Council created employment opportunities for the unemployed, as well as loans to young entrepreneurs, and emphasized the government's attribution in the implementation of its government programme, particularly with regard to the service axis and the fight against poverty."

On a related level, the Media Office of the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency: "Al-Mandalawi met with Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudan, in the presence of the Chairman of the Labour Committee and of parliamentary civil society organizations Hussein Arab and all its members, to discuss the draft social security and retirement law."

Al-Mandalawi stressed, according to the statement, "the parliament's seriousness in completing the draft law on social security and retirement for workers, and its importance in improving the conditions of the labor market, revitalizing the private sector and creating new job opportunities for young people," calling for "increasing the pension for workers in the private sector covered by social security and making it equal to the pension government, and educating workers and employers about the law and its importance in consolidating their rights."

The statement added, "During the meeting, the draft law was discussed, views and proposals were exchanged about its paragraphs and articles, and it was agreed in principle to mature and complete it as soon as possible as an important reform step, and to determine the number of those covered to be included in the budget, in addition to supporting the guarantee fund, and encouraging workers in the regular sector."