Finance Ministry figures show surge in food subsidies

Latest budgetary spending figures from the Ministry of Finance show that the government spent 25% more in September compared to August. The increase is largely a result of a surge in food rations and other subsidies to the Ministry of Trade.

September was the first full month since the 2023 federal budget law came into force. The government spent a total of 13 trillion IQD that month, which is still far less than the 16.5 trillion IQD that it could potentially spend in accordance with the budget law. Iraq’s oil ministry generated the equivalent of 12.1 trillion IQD in oil sales in September.

A hike in spending allocations to the Ministry of Trade is what accounts for most of the increase in overall expenditure. The government spent 1 trillion IQD on food rations via the Public Distribution System, and a further 1.4 trillion IQD on food subsidies.

Spending on salaries also rose slightly in September to 4.3 trillion IQD, compared to 4 trillion IQD in the previous month.

In contrast, capital spending fell by half in September compared to the previous month. Only 514 billion IQD was spent on investments and capital allocations to local governments. The government could potentially spend a monthly average of 4.6 trillion IQD on capital allocations if it had the institutional capacity to do so. The complex bureaucratic procedures involved in approving allocations for capital spending were discussed in an Iraq Horizons post earlier this year: