Iraq intends to give more allocations to power, housing and health projects in its 2024 budget that will be sent soon to Parliament for approval, a deputy has said.

Some of the projects received funds in the 2023 budget, which included nearly 5,500 projects in all the country’s governorates, said Atwan Al-Atwani, Chairman of the Parliament’s Finance Committee.

Atwani told Iraqi News Agency on Tuesday that the projects approved in the 2023 budget have a total cost of 49 trillion Iraqi dinars ($37.5 billion).

“We are awaiting the 2024 draft budget after it is passed by the cabinet…it will include new allocations for various projects but the emphasis will on electricity, housing, health and education projects,” he said.

In June 2023, OPEC producer Iraq passed its first 3-year budget of around $153 billion but officials said last week the 2024 spending could be increased by $6.2 billion.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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