Other measures are also expected. These include reducing the number of cars allocated for officials, reducing by 25% the staff of 4.5 million public employees, closing consulates and merging all of the trade, military, cultural and diplomatic missions with embassies. These measures are aimed at containing criticism of unnecessary spending.
The Citizen Alliance lashed out Nov. 14 at the House of Representatives for the proposed allocation of 50 billion dinars ($42 million) to the president's office and 39 billion dinars ($33 million) for a plan to collect illegal weapons from civilians.
Najib told Al-Monitor the solution lies in “developing public and private sectors, enacting laws that can attract local and international private companies, cutting unnecessary expenditures, adopting a tax policy that encourages investment, and stimulating domestic products so they are up to the level of imported goods.”
A main consideration is safeguarding Iraq's money and directing the budget toward the goal of getting rid of financial and administrative corruption. About $361 billion went missing from Iraqi budgets between 2004 and 2014, which led the Iraqi government in 2016 to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations to investigate financial corruption.
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