Labor Ministry ready to pay social care salaries, pending financial allocation

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs announced on Sunday that it had finished all the procedures related to the social care beneficiaries’ salaries, and was waiting for the financial allocation.

The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al-Asadi, stated to Shafaq News Agency, “2023 budget is for three years, we are waiting for the parliament to approve it before we can use the money.”

Al-Asadi said “we are working on having some allocation from the emergency budget or the cabinet. He also mentioned that “the ministry budget last year was four trillion and 700 billion dinars.”

Furthermore, Al-Asadi stressed that social care needs more financial allocations, due to the new beneficiaries included in 2023. This requires six billion dinars to pay their dues.

According to Al-Asadi, more than 900 thousand families in 2023 received their Q-card. However, one million and 207 thousand families are still waiting for the budget allocation to receive their allowance.

Noteworthy, the Iraqi parliament passed on Monday, June 11, 2023, the financial budget law for three years, after months of delay, with high spending and investments driven by the rise in oil prices.

The new budget proposes spending 198 trillion and 910 billion dinars (153 billion dollars) per year, and investing 49 trillion and 350 billion dinars (37.9 billion dollars), mainly to build roads, housing projects, schools, and hospitals, which are a "priority" for Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani.

The budget expects revenues of 134 trillion and 5 billion dinars (103.4 billion dollars), based on an oil barrel price of 70 dollars, where oil make up 90% of the country's revenues.