Iraqi economist says he will pause media work after parliament dispute over staff figures

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi economist Nipil al-Marsumi announced on Friday that he is stepping back from media work, a day after the Iraqi Parliament publicly rejected figures he had circulated about its staffing levels. In a statement on social media, al-Marsumi said he stood by the documents he had released but acknowledged that proving their accuracy required significant effort, and that he would suspend his writing for the time being. The dispute centers on numbers al-Marsumi shared about parliament's personnel and payroll, including a figure of 12,500 employees and an average salary of 3.5 million dinars per person. Parliament's press office had said those numbers were inaccurate and that the actual staff count was less than a quarter of the figure he cited. Al-Marsumi responded by publishing detailed data on actual 2025 expenditures, reporting that personnel compensation reached 551.202 billion dinars and total spending stood at 618.253 billion dinars. He maintained that the workforce numbered 12,480 and that the average salary was 3.6 million dinars, roughly twelve times the minimum wage. Al-Marsumi said his dispute with parliament is not yet resolved and warned that similar episodes could recur as long as authorities retain what he described as a deterrent capacity. No further response from parliament was immediately available.