Economy Update – Baghdad
In a significant move during its seventh cabinet session on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani led discussions that culminated in key decisions impacting public service operations. Notably, the cabinet approved a reduction in official working hours by one hour for the month of Ramadan.
The Prime Minister’s media office outlined in a statement that the session focused on essential economic and service-related issues, addressing the government’s program priorities and deliberating on agenda items to facilitate informed decision-making.
As part of the official working hours adjustments for government institutions and universities, the Council of Ministers confirmed the following actions:
- The cessation of operations in paragraph (first/d) of Cabinet Resolution 24213 of 2024, reinstating university working hours, while empowering university councils to determine their schedules based on operational needs starting March 2, 2025.
- Modification of the official working hours for the Ministry of Oil Center to 7 AM to 2 PM.
- Amendment of the official working hours for the Ministry of Science and Technology to 7 AM to 2 PM.
- Exemption of the Cinema and Theater Department within the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities from the standard working hour regulations.
- Adjusting the official hours for the Endowment of Christian, Yazidis, and Mandaean Sabeans to the 7 AM to 2 PM schedule.
- The formation of a technical team led by the Associate Chairman of the Advisors Authority in the Prime Minister’s Office, comprising representatives from the Baghdad Operations Command, the Baghdad Governorate, and various transport and infrastructure agencies, tasked with studying vehicle movement patterns and traffic flows in Baghdad.
- Emphasizing the enhancement of collective transportation and incentivizing employee participation with leniency in work hours.
- Assigning the Municipality of Baghdad and the Directorate of Roads and Bridges to expedite repairs to main thoroughfares to mitigate traffic congestions.
- Directing the Ministry of Higher Education and Research to collaborate with municipal authorities to address issues of student vehicle parking near universities, aimed at preventing accidents and easing congestion.
The council also addressed the allocation of job grades, approving a total of 5,903 positions consistent with earlier budgets.
To mark the beginning of Ramadan, the Council sanctioned a one-hour reduction in official working hours, allowing ministries the flexibility to apply this change at either the start or end of the workday, effective from March 2, 2025, until the month’s conclusion.
Further discussions focused on the progression of hospital projects, endorsing recommendations aimed at expediting the completion of public hospitals as outlined in a previous Diwanian Command Committee meeting.
Infrastructure Enhancement Initiatives
The cabinet approved several measures to ensure the advancement of infrastructure projects:
- Increasing funding for the Basra Water Project’s first phase.
- Enhancing budgets for the rehabilitation of Baghdad-Karbala Road.
- Providing additional funding for a new road project in Nineveh Governorate.
- Allocating resources for the construction of model schools in various districts of Anbar Governorate.
The cabinet expressed a commitment to supplying “dry gas” to industrial facilities, determining that the Ministry of Oil will ensure continuous allocation of gas as needed for strategic industrial projects, detailed as follows:
- 90 feedback/day to the General Company for the Southern Fertilizer Industry.
- 65 feedback/day to the General Company of Northern Fertilizers for nitrogen fertilizer production.
- 20 feedback/day to the General Company for Sulfur Mashraq for project rehabilitation.
- 60 feedback/day to the General Phosphate Company for an integrated phosphate project.
- 37.5 feedback/day to the General Glass and Thermal Company.
Electricity Project Development
Additionally, the cabinet reviewed the progress of electricity projects, particularly the transition of “Al-Qayyara Gazo Gift” to a more efficient operational model, granting the Ministry of Electricity authorization to execute contracts valued at $480 million for significant thermal station developments.
Legislative Advancements
The Council of Ministers endorsed the following draft laws for referral to the House of Representatives:
- The anti-human trafficking law.
- The law prohibiting torture and inhumane treatment.
The approval comes after thorough reviews ensure compliance with constitutional provisions and attention to insights from the legal department within the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.
For continued updates, subscribe to our channel.
