The house of representatives held on (28/2/2022) his second session of the first term of the legislative assembly to the first legislative year for the fifth electoral cycle under the chairmanship of Mohammed Al-Halbousi and in the presence of (288) and it included:

-Representative Muhammad Karim Abdul-Hussein, representing Salah al-Din Governorate, Alaa Sabah Marei, representing Basra Governorate, and Safi Assi Hussein, representing Kirkuk Governorate takes the oath of the office to serve the membership of house of the representatives.

- Mr. House of Representatives direct all the representative committees by distribute its members equally on all the committees due to its important legislative and oversight functions.

- Vote by majority to the suggestion of the house of representatives leadership by making number of the standing representatives committees 25 committees voting on forming a provisional committee under the chairmanship of the first vice chairman Mr. Hakem Al Zamili and the membership of the representatives Hassan Karim, Faleh Al-Sari, Fian Sabri and Muhammad to readjustment and define the committees functions in the rules of procedures then present it to the house of representatives.

-  The house discussed during its hosting Mr. Finance minister the rising in the dollar exchange and its repercussions on the market through rising the prices and damaging the poor share and discussing the general debt and the financial policy to Ministry of Finance and the suggested handling.

-The Speaker of the House welcomes the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ali Abdul Amir Allawi, and the Undersecretary of the Ministry to the session, at the request of representative Burhan Al-Maamouri, accompanied by the signatures of 100 representatives.

-Mr. Allawi reviewed, in a detailed explanation, the reasons for changing the exchange rate and its relationship to economic reform, which was according to an extensive study in which concerned parties participated and was not an individual decision by the Ministry of Finance, noting that the exchange rate change at that time was against the background of the deterioration in global oil prices due to the impact of the Corona pandemic and a decline in  The volume of Iraqi oil exports, estimated by the IMF amounted to (4.9%), as well as the failure to approve the 2020 budget due to the resignation of the government, which led to a stifling financial crisis that prevented the payment of salaries of employees and retirees, which prompted the House of Representatives to pass the two laws to finance the deficit in the amount of 27 trillion dinars.

- The Minister of Finance indicated that the 2021 budget, which was developed according to reform plans, contributed to developing solutions, handling the financial situation and working to develop the long-term financial strategy by presenting the white paper that restored balance to the Iraqi economy, provided economic stability for people with limited income and corrected local investment, indicating that  The imbalance in the Iraqi economy is due to the negative accumulations and the direct and indirect state control over the economy since the seventies of the last century, noting that reconsidering the exchange rate of the currency in an ill-considered manner leads to financial chaos similar to some countries, so it was to determine the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar comfortably to protect it from any external changes by taking a proactive and correct step in coordination with the Central Bank and studying it with the Prime Minister, heads of political blocs and other parties, in addition to supporting the IMF regarding changing the price at a reasonable rate.

-The Minister explained that the draft budget law for the year 2021 focused on protecting vulnerable groups in society, applying some elements of the white paper, increasing non-oil imports, and the ministry’s treatment of these groups by allocating more than 9 trillion dinars to help increase social protection allocations, improve the effectiveness of the ration card, and support the youth small projects. In addition to increasing the pensions of retired people and the allowances for martyrs and political prisoners.

-Mr. Allawi indicated that the benefits of devaluing the Iraqi dinar increased government revenues by 23 percent, including maximizing the funds allocated to finance reconstruction projects and allowing the government to respond to the increase in citizens' needs and contribute to strengthening the balance of payments for the country and avoiding it the risks.

- Mr. Allawi pointed out that the rise in prices in the Iraqi markets was not only due to the decrease in the exchange rate of the dollar, but rather as a result of the increase in global food prices since 2020, explaining that the rise in global oil prices is beneficial for Iraq and at the same time affects its needs of foodstuffs, oil derivatives and the import of gas, which  It is used to generate electricity by 30%, noting that the Iraqi external debt will be reduced by 4 billion dollars in 2021

- The Minister suggested to support the vulnerable share of society by allocating a direct grant to be distributed through the ration card or social protection and to support small and medium projects, especially in rural livelihoods , as a result of the financial abundance resulting from the increase in oil prices.

- Representative Burhan Al-Maamouri asked about the results obtained from the decision of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank to change the exchange rate of the dollar and its repercussions on the livelihood of citizens in light of the high demand for food prices in local markets and knowing the percentage of completion of the white paper and its impact on the work of governmental institutions, in addition to his question about the non-implementation of the budget items for the past year by paying farmers’ benefits, objecting to the establishment of the petroleum fund and dollar, and depriving the productive governorates of additional amounts to improve their situation.

- In his response, the Minister of Finance indicated that there is a global imbalance in the economy and a flaw in the commercial, import and institutional situation in Iraq, especially the uncontrolled borders, as well as the poor absorption of the agricultural, industrial and private sectors of the economic changes taking place in the world, indicating that the rate of paying farmers’ benefits amounted to 65 percent with the presence of many accumulations   for the years 2019 and 2020, noting that the financial crisis that occurred in 2021 affected the possibility of implementing some of the items contained in the budget law, while emphasis that the percentage of completion of the white paper, which included 322 centers, reached 61%, declaring that 60% of the border crossings are not controlled, including those located in the Kurdistan region

 Part of the session was chaired by Mr. Hakim Al-Zamili

- Demanding a number of ladies and gentlemen of representatives to know the possibility of restoring the dinar exchange rate to its predecessor to reduce price inflation and handling currency smuggling borders and delay payment of farmers’ benefits, in addition to the demand for the automation of border crossings and the reservation on the government’s reliance on foreign loan policy, burdening the country with debt, and an actual setting reform steps without overburdening the citizen, and asking the financial authorities to make denominations of small currencies to avoid high prices due to the lack of middle denominations.

- Mr. Hakim Al-Zamili called on the government to work to impose its control over the financial sectors and to develop a basic solution with the commitment of the Ministry of Finance to support the simple classes in society

- Mr. Al-Halbousi indicated during the session that the background of the exchange rate change was due to the Corona pandemic, the decline in oil prices and the scarcity of Iraqi imports, and what caused a financial crisis, at which time the Iraqi government was unable to pay its obligations towards employees and retirees, while the proposed solutions were identified by several options, including reducing employees’ salaries by a percentage  30 percent and laying off a number of employees and referring them to compulsory retirement, but the House of Representatives chose to amend the exchange rate, which achieved revenues for the state amounting to 22 trillion dinars and found a solution to the problem, demanding for effective solutions to maximize financial imports that enable the state to restore the value of the Iraqi dinar, pointing out that the largest deals of corruption that occurred in Iraq was in 2012 when the dollar exchange rate was changed.

- The Chairman of the house called on the Ministry of Finance to work on presenting a new vision to handle the negative effects that resulted from changing the exchange rate, that it is presented to the house within a period of two weeks

- The Minister of Finance explained that it is not possible at the present time to change the exchange rate because it has achieved stability in the Iraqi economy and its change is linked to the rise in financial abundance that meets the ambition

-Vote to cancel  the house of representatives decision to assign Mr. Minister of Oil the duties of the director of the National Oil Company, based on a request submitted by 100 representatives, due to his violation of the law

- To vote on the formation of a representative committee to investigate the facts and search for the missing demonstrators in the events of the October demonstrations, the disappeared, the security agencies, the victims and the wounded among them, and the follow-up of the file of the killers of the demonstrators.

- President Al-Halbousi announced the setting of the next session to elect the President of the Republic and vote on the representative committees.