The Cabinet holds the 50th regular session, including decisions

INA - BAGHDAD

The Cabinet held the 50th regular session chaired by PM Muhammed S. Al-Sudani and issued decisions regarding the country's general situation, the most prominent issues, and the items on the agenda.

In preparation for the Provincial Council Elections, the Prime Minister directed the suspension of official working hours on Monday and Tuesday, 18 and 19 December 2023, according to a statement by the PM Media Office, received by the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

"To address the issue of water scarcity and adhere to the agricultural and water plan, the Prime Minister issued the following directives:
1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to communicate with its Turkish counterpart regarding increasing water releases to Iraq.
2. The Ministry of Water Resources is to form teams to organize the irrigation process in areas suffering from a critical water situation.
3. The Joint Operations Command is to follow up on violators in areas that witness cases of trespassing and non-compliance with laws.

Based on the services provided by the Government Communication Team through the Bayn Ahalna initiative (meaning Among Our People) to the most vulnerable and fragile groups in society, through its fieldwork and periodic visits to remote areas and slums, the Prime Minister directed all ministries, especially service-oriented ones, to provide financial support and the necessary resources. This is aimed at enhancing the team’s capabilities, improving its immediate and rapid response to groups in need, and ensuring that the team’s needs are included in the annual work plans of the relevant ministries," included in the decisions.

The statement highlighted the efforts to enhance the performance of security forces, as the Cabinet allocated 25 billion dinars from the emergency reserve fund to the Ministry of Interior, "This funding aims to fulfill the needs of the Border Forces Command for completing border fortifications with neighboring countries. The objective is to enhance border strip security, mitigate smuggling, and reduce infiltration cases. The contract is exempted from the contracting methods outlined in the Instructions for Implementing Government Contracts."

To prepare the requirements for the provincial electoral process, the Cabinet agreed to the following:
1. Transferring (43,769,149,000) dinars within the Independent High Electoral Commission's budget from the provincial council elections program to the account for Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections. This is based on Article (5) of the Federal Budget Law for 2023. Additionally, transferring the difference amounting to (25,460,851,000) dinars from the emergency reserve within the Kurdistan Region's budget, adding it to the Independent High Electoral Commission's budget for 2023 in exchange for the Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections account.
2. Authorizing the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Independent Election Commission to supervise the Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections.

The Ministry of Finance has approved to allocate (5,562,149,000) dinars from the remaining emergency reserve to fund the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2023. This allocation aims to implement the recommendation of the Supreme National Water Committee to address drought and flood issues in the Kurdistan Region.

During the session, the recommendations from the meeting minutes discussing the Ministry of Planning's powers were approved. These recommendations focus on establishing controls to streamline project implementation, especially in cases of deviations from initial plans. The emphasis is on encouraging contracting parties to enhance project planning and provide more accurate cost estimates according to the following:

1. The contracting party can increase the reserve amount for the contract by (7%) of the contract amount, not exceeding (7) billion dinars, and this is within the total project or work cost.
2. Upon the contracting entity's head's request, the Minister of Planning may increase the reserve amount for the project contract beyond (7%) up to (12%) of the contract amount, with the total increase capped at (12) billion dinars.
3. The Ministerial Council for the Economy, based on the Minister of Planning's proposal, may increase the reserve amount for the contract beyond (12%) up to (15%) of the contract amount, with the total increase not exceeding (15) billion dinars.
4. Upon the contracting entity head's request, the Minister of Planning can increase the supervision and control amount by a maximum of (1%) over the percentage specified in the authority of the competent minister or the contracting entity head.
5. The Minister of Planning has the authority to support the disbursement of investment projects and businesses financed by loans and grants within the budgets of ministries, entities not affiliated with a ministry, and governorates, notifying the Ministry of Finance of the disbursement.
6. The Minister of Planning, at the request of the contracting entity head, may increase the total cost of projects, except for paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) above, in the following cases:

A. Settlement accounts for completed and canceled projects.
B. Project withdrawal due to the contractor's breach of obligations, and the cost will be borne by the contractor.
C. Projects affected by final judicial decisions.
D. Projects with reduced costs where contractual obligations exist, within the amount of the reduction.
E. Projects suspended for at least one year requiring additional work components to resume, up to (50%) of the total project cost, not exceeding (15) billion dinars.

The Cabinet approved the following measures:
1. Excluding the (200) dunums allocated for the Ministry of Finance headquarters from the Cabinet Resolution (175 of 2019) and reallocating it to the Ministry of Finance and its departments.
2. Authorization for the Minister of Finance, or her designee, to sign loan agreements and related documents with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) or international export guarantee institutions for financing the Samawa Water Project, following Federal Budget Law provisions.
3. Approval of financing conditions outlined in the Ministry of Finance's letter dated November 29, 2023.

In the energy sector, the Ministerial Council for Energy's recommendation (23104) for 2023 was approved, including the renewal of contracts (No. 151 and 153) for supplying electrical power to the northern region for one year.