Iraqi PM adviser says delayed budget will not affect salary payments

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's National Security Adviser Muzaffar Muhammad Saleh said on Wednesday that a delayed approval of the federal budget would not interrupt salary payments to public-sector employees, retirees and social welfare recipients. Speaking to the Iraqi state news agency, Saleh said such payments fall within the state's mandatory core spending under the existing fiscal framework. Saleh pointed to provisions in the Federal Financial Management Law, which set out rules for public spending if the annual budget law is delayed. The law allows the finance minister to authorize monthly spending up to a set share of the previous year's current expenditure, and to fund ongoing investment projects according to their completion rates. The adviser added that the expected budget is to be shaped around ten key priorities, without elaborating further. No further details on the timeline for the budget's passage were immediately available.