Iraq to shift 2027 budget to performance-based framework, adviser says

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's 2027 budget will move to a broader program and performance-based structure, the prime minister's financial and economic adviser, Muzahir Mohammed Salih, said, describing the plan as a tool to reshape the country's fiscal and economic framework rather than a routine revenue and spending document. Under the new approach, financial resources will be linked to programs, projects, performance indicators and targeted development outcomes, tying public spending to measurable results, according to Salih. He said the change is intended to bring a qualitative shift in the governance of public resources. Salih noted that Iraq's public finances face challenges including raising non-oil revenues, restructuring expenditures and improving the efficiency of state spending. The 2027 budget is designed to connect fiscal policy with development and economic reform objectives over the medium and long term, and will be aligned with Iraq's 2035 National Vision and its 2050 sustainable development goals. The adviser said the real test will not be approval of the budget but the state's capacity to translate the fiscal reform into implementable programs.