Stages of preparing the draft general budget law in Iraq

Abstract

To understand the nature of the state's general budget as the central axis around which all activities, in all their various forms, revolve, it is important to note that the tools of the general budget are now used to provide the necessary support and protection to national industries, helping them withstand competition from imported products. This is achieved through imposing high tariffs on imported goods, exempting local industries from fees and taxes, providing them with soft loans, establishing a social safety net, supporting women's programs, and more. The general budget is an accounting, legal, financial, and political document that expresses the idea of ​​forecasting and relying on public expenditures and revenues for a future period, which, in numerical form, reflects the administrative, economic, and social activity of the state.

This research aims to analyze the stages of preparing the draft general budget law in Iraq, as it is a pivotal process in the state's financial system, reflecting the economic and political orientations of the government. The research addresses the authorities and bodies responsible for preparing the draft budget, primarily the Ministry of Finance, the Council of Ministers, and the Economic Committee, clarifying the coordinating and technical roles undertaken by each entity. The research also focused on the administrative phase of budget preparation, starting with issuing financial directives and setting spending ceilings, moving through the preparation of estimates for public revenues and expenditures, and concluding with the review and approval of the draft budget by the Council of Ministers before its submission to the Council of Representatives.

The research adopted a descriptive-analytical approach, supported by comparison with some international models, to reveal the efficiency of the Iraqi financial system in budget preparation. The study concluded that the process of preparing the draft general budget law in Iraq suffers from institutional and technical challenges, most notably weak coordination among government entities and heavy reliance on oil revenues, which affects the stability of fiscal policy. The research recommended the necessity of diversifying revenue sources and enhancing transparency and strategic financial planning, which would contribute to building a realistic and balanced budget that reflects national development priorities.