Lawmaker: food security bill budget is less than 25 trillion dinars

Shafaq News/ The parliamentary finance committee is considering downsizing the budget of the emergency food security bill to less than 25 trillion dinars, committee member Nadhem al-Shebli said on Saturday.

"The bill has passed the first and second reading in the previous sessions of the parliament," al-Shebli said, "the finance committee has been holding meetings on a daily basis. It hosted the minister of finance and other officeholders to discuss the bill prior to putting it to vote."

"The committee has introduced amendments. It abolished internal and external borrowing. The funding shall be exclusively derived from the liquidity provided by oil revenues."

"The powers of the Finance minister might be adjusted as well," said the lawmaker, "the funding allocated to the project is no more than 25 trillion dinars. We are making accurate calculations. It might be reduced to less than this amount."

Iraq's caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged the political forces not to "empty the food security bill from its content", and join efforts to form a government.

Speaking in a ceremony organized by al-Dawa party on the anniversary of the Shiite cleric Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr's execution, al-Kadhimi said, "We urge the political forces to work as a team in order to meet the constitutional deadlines."

"Out people have been waiting for a reformative government for a long time. We all share a single patriotic mission: moving from deadlock to agreement."

The Prime Minister called on the parliamentary blocs to "vote on the food security bill without emptying it from its content since it is vital for the people," he said, "the aim of enacting this bill is to provide protection for our people."