Latest news with #MinistryofFinance
Shafaq News
3 hours ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
Iraq's financial revenues exceed 46 trillion dinars in 5 months
Shafaq News – Baghdad On Tuesday, Iraq's Ministry of Finance announced that total federal revenues exceeded 46 trillion dinars between January and May 2025. According to the data and financial tables released by the Ministry of Finance in June, the total revenues reached more than 46 trillion Iraqi dinars (Approx.. $35.08 billion). Of that amount, oil revenues amounted to 42 trillion (Approx. $32.05 billion), comprising 91% of total income, while Non-oil revenues stood at more than 4 trillion Iraqi dinars (Approx. $3.05 billion). The ministry's data also showed that total public sector salaries exceeded 27 trillion Iraqi dinars (Approx. $21.1 billion), while pension payments totaled about 8 trillion (Approx. $6.1 billion), and Social welfare payments climbed above 2 trillion (Approx. $1.78 billion). Overall, current expenditures reached about 44 trillion Iraqi dinars ($33.55 billion), according to the federal budget records. In March 2021, the Prime Minister's Financial Advisor, Mudhhir Muhammad Salih, told Shafaq News that Iraq's continued dependence on oil stems from decades of war, economic sanctions, and the ongoing political conflicts that have fragmented the country's economic resources.
Iraqi News
4 hours ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
Iraq's federal budget revenues hit 46 trillion dinars in H1 2025
Baghdad ( – Iraq's Ministry of Finance announced today, Tuesday (July 29, 2025), that federal budget revenues exceeded 46 trillion Iraqi Dinars from January to May 2025. The Ministry confirmed that oil continues to be the primary contributor, accounting for a staggering 91% of the budget. Data and tables released by the Ministry of Finance in June, covering the first five months of the current fiscal year, clearly indicate that oil remains the main revenue source for Iraq's general budget. This overwhelming reliance on oil, at 91%, underscores the rentier nature of the country's economy. According to the financial tables, total revenues reached 46,157,110,408,761 Iraqi Dinars. Oil revenues specifically amounted to 41,930,805,332,000 Dinars, making up 91% of the general budget. In contrast, non-oil revenues were significantly lower, totaling 4,226,305,075,000 Dinars. The Ministry's data also detailed government expenditures: total employee salaries reached 27,653,233,819,000 Dinars, while pension salaries amounted to 7,953,199,000,000 Dinars. Social welfare network salaries stood at 2,329,435,774,000 Dinars. Overall, current expenditures for the period totaled 43,951,426,654,000 Dinars. The sustained reliance on oil as the sole source for the general budget places Iraq at significant risk from global crises that frequently impact oil prices. This vulnerability often forces the country to cover budget deficits by resorting to external or internal borrowing, indicating a persistent challenge in effective state financial management and the inability to find alternative funding solutions. Muzhar Mohammed Salih, an advisor to the Prime Minister for financial affairs, had previously noted in March 2021, in an interview with Shafaq News Agency, that the reasons for Iraq's continued rentier economy stem from past wars, economic blockades, and ongoing political conflicts, which have led to a dispersion of economic resources.
Zawya
6 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Ministry of Finance organises first ‘Customer Council' under phase two of the ‘Zero Government Bureaucracy' programme
Dubai: The Ministry of Finance has organised the first 'Customer Council' under the second phase of the 'Zero Government Bureaucracy' programme as part of its commitment to transparency, efficiency, and innovation. The programme aims to support the UAE Government's ongoing efforts to eliminate redundant procedures and services, reduce duplication across government entities, and enhance the overall customer experience, while reinforcing a more agile and responsive administrative model. As part of the second phase, the Ministry will focuse on cutting and abolishing unnecessary digital administrative complexities and redundant approvals, modernising and upgrading all government digital systems, and actively adopting artificial intelligence technologies. It also seeks to develop a smart digital government that meets societal expectations and bolsters the UAE's competitiveness on both regional and global levels. H.E. Younis Haji AlKhoori, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, stressed that hosting the first Customer Council demonstrates the Ministry's commitment to transparency, continuous improvement, and embedding the principle of customer engagement in policy design and service enhancement. He noted that the initiative functions not only as a dialogue platform but also as a strategic instrument for assessing procedures from the user's perspective and enhancing the efficacy of government services. H.E. AlKhoori said, 'At the Ministry of Finance, we believe that customers are the primary driver of improvement and innovation. This is why this Council plays a vital role as it provides a platform for directly listening to challenges and suggestions and transforming them into practical inputs that support our efforts to simplify procedures and enhance the efficiency of public financial performance.' He added, 'The 'Zero Government Bureaucracy' programme is supported by the directives of our wise leadership and represents a paradigm shift towards fast and efficient public services. Through the three Customer Councils scheduled for this year, we will work to enhance the customer journey and design collaborative solutions that address the needs and aspirations of all segments of society.' Customer contributions His Excellency further stressed that the Ministry values all customer contributions and insights and recognises that their active participation will contribute to ensuring the success of government initiatives. He also said that the Ministry is proud of being awarded the Zero Government Bureaucracy Award in the ''Engaging People' category, which reflects its success in transforming customer feedback into tangible results. The Customer Council operates as a tool to measure the real customer experience, helping identify bureaucratic complexity through the real-life experiences of service users. It offers a direct lens into the actual effectiveness of procedures from the customer's perspective and acts as a vital entry point for redesigning workflows to eliminate unnecessary steps. The council also plays a key role in evaluating the outcomes of these changes, enabling the Ministry to track measurable improvements post-implementation. Through this platform, the Ministry aims to collect actionable feedback, pinpoint high-impact challenges, and prioritise the redesign of critical processes, while rigorously testing proposed solutions to ensure their effectiveness. Three main phases have been outlined for the Customer Councils until the end of 2025. The first phase involves identifying challenges and priorities from the user's perspective. The second will focus on redesigning the customer journey using participatory design methodologies. The final phase will involve testing the proposed service models and collecting final feedback ahead of the official rollout of the Ministry's revamped operations and services. Staff awareness In parallel, the Ministry is conducting an awareness campaign to familiarise employees with the programme's methodology. The campaign highlights the role of reducing bureaucracy in improving quality of life and facilitating business operations. To this end, the Ministry aims to equip participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to engage effectively and directly in efforts to streamline government bureaucracy, fostering a shared understanding and a results-driven approach to enhancing the efficiency and quality of government services.
The Star
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
China social spending hits highest level in nearly two decades
BEIJING: China's government spending has pivoted toward social welfare to a degree unseen for at least a generation, as it runs a record budget deficit with a focus on boosting consumption to cushion the blow from Donald Trump's tariffs. The latest evidence arrived on Monday (July 28), when China announced it will start offering nationwide cash handouts to families as an incentive for couples to have children. While Beijing is channeling less on-budget investment into infrastructure, expenditure that covers outlays ranging from education to employment and social security climbed to nearly 5.7 trillion yuan (US$795 billion) in the first half - the highest for the period since the data series began in 2007. That represents an increase of 6.4 per cent from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on figures published by the Ministry of Finance. Authorities could renew their pledge to prioritise support for domestic demand, as top officials prepare to meet this month to set the economic agenda for the rest of the year while trade talks with Washington continue. The splurge was almost double the increase in total spending under the general public budget, the first and biggest account among the government's four fiscal books. Infrastructure-related expenditure in the account - allocated for costs such as environmental protection, irrigation facilities and transportation - was 4.5 per cent less than a year earlier. Fiscal priorities have shifted after the trade war unleashed by Trump threatened China with millions of job losses and put pressure on its patchy social safety net. Under the new policy of childcare subsidies, the government will spend 3,600 yuan a year per kid under the age of three, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Citigroup Inc. estimates a total lump-sum payout of 117 billion yuan in the second half of 2025, while Morgan Stanley puts the programme's annual cost at 100 billion yuan, assuming about 9ninemillion births a year. Although President Xi Jinping has in the past resisted large-scale handouts to families over what he's called "welfarism,' China responded in recent months by ramping up government support for households. The goal is partly to bolster domestic demand in the face of US tariffs, which have sent the country's shipments to the world's biggest consumer market slumping this year. "Better supporting people's well-being will help boost domestic demand and is part of the rebalancing of the Chinese economy,' said Tommy Xie, head of Asia macro research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. At the same time, China launched construction of a 1.2 trillion yuan mega-dam in Tibet this month, a massive project that will likely take years to complete. "The room for infrastructure expansion in the future will shrink marginally' even though it can play a "supporting role at critical times,' OCBC's Xie said. Social security and employment saw the biggest gain in spending related to people's well-being, up almost eight per cent in the first half from a year earlier. A survey carried out by China's central bank showed an employment sentiment index hit a record low in the second quarter, illustrating the need for more government aid for job seekers. Outlays on education increased 5.9 per cent and rose four per cent on medical treatment and health care. Meanwhile local governments' tapping of the annual quota of new bonds meant mainly for infrastructure investment slowed. Provinces have issued about 56 per cent of new special local bonds allowed for this year, down from an average of 61 per cent for January-July in the five years through 2024, according to Bloomberg calculations based on MOF numbers. Previously, the favoured way to jumpstart growth was by spending on areas like roads, railways or industrial parks, much of it done by provincial governments. Instead, the government has accelerated the issuance of sovereign notes this year, primarily to cover the budget shortfall for routine public expenditure. Chinese provinces also sold substantial volumes of bonds in the first seven months to refinance their so-called hidden debt, as Beijing seeks to contain credit risks from deteriorating local finances. "An uneven consumption recovery in the first half highlights a key risk for China's growth outlook: a sustained improvement in domestic demand may require time to take hold. The experience from 1998-2003 suggests that even with strong policy support, lasting gains in consumer spending can be slow to emerge - with false starts along the way.' Government borrowing was crucial for replenishing state coffers depleted by China's years-long property slump. Revenue from real estate-related taxes, including deeds and urban land use, fell 5.6 per cent on year in the first half to 975.3 billion yuan. Provinces earned 1.43 trillion yuan in the period from selling land, a contraction of 6.5 per cent despite a rebound of over 20 per cent in June thanks to market recovery in some big cities. Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cautioned, however, on "the sustainability of land sales revenue improvement' and maintained their forecast that government land sales revenue may decline further this year by up to ten per cent. Total tax revenue shrank 1.2 per cent on year in the first half to 9.29 trillion yuan, with income from levies on such transactions as vehicle purchases posting double-digit declines. Non-tax revenue - which includes compensation for the use of state-controlled resources and assets and fines - rose 3.7 per cent to 2.27 trillion yuan. It grew despite a decline in the money collected from fines, a Finance Ministry official said at a Friday briefing. Revenue from the tax on vehicle purchases plunged 19.1 per cent in January-June from a year ago, the biggest drop among all categories and more than triple its decline in the same period of 2024. Slumping income from the vehicle purchase tax shows the impact of the government's decision to extend the suspension of a levy on buying new energy vehicles, such as electric cars, to 2027, Huachuang Securities analysts including Zhang Yu wrote in a note on Friday. The shift away from fuel-powered cars also weighed on revenue from the consumption tax by reducing demand for gasoline and diesel, they said. The government is losing a total of 265 billion yuan per year in revenues from the vehicle purchase tax and the consumption levy due to the pivot to cars powered by alternative-energy sources, Huachuang Securities estimates. - Bloomberg
Zawya
11 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Oman's central bank issues treasury bills worth $57mln
Muscat: Oman's central bank raised OMR22 million by way of allotting treasury bills on Monday. The value of the treasury bills are for a maturity period of 91 days. The average accepted price reached OMR98.933 for every OMR100, and the minimum accepted price arrived at OMR98.930 per OMR100. The average discount rate and the average yield reached 4.27900% and 4.32514%, respectively. Treasury Bills are short-term highly secured financial instruments issued by the Ministry of Finance, and they provide licensed commercial banks the opportunity to invest their surplus funds. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) acts as the Issue Manager and provides theadded advantage of ready liquidity through discounting and repurchase facilities (Repo). It may be noted that the interest rate on the Repo operations with CBO is 5.00% while the discount rate on the Treasury Bills Discounting Facility with CBO is 5.50%. Furthermore, Treasury Bills promote the local money market by creating a benchmark yield curve for short-term interest rates. Additionally, the Government may also resort to this instrument whenever felt necessary for financing its recurrent expenditures. © Muscat Media Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
