Iraq's cash reserves at 109 trillion dinars, public salaries covered for 10 months: committee

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's parliamentary Finance Committee said the country's cash reserves stand at 109 trillion Iraqi dinars, a level sufficient to cover public-sector salaries for 10 months. The committee added that the executive branch has sent the draft budget bill to parliament and that the text includes adequate allocations for salaries, counterterrorism operations, war remnants clearance, border guards and air defense, alongside investment spending. Committee members said certain line items, including expenditures tied to the presidency and foreign guests, were reduced in the draft, which they said would have a positive impact on the budget. Separately, the committee met with the visiting European Union ambassador in Baghdad and discussed counterterrorism files, the reopening of the EU's embassy in the capital and Iraq's reform process. The committee also said appointment decrees linked to security portfolios will take effect once the budget law is passed. No further details were immediately available.