The Parliamentary Finance Committee expected that the schedules of the general budget law from the government would reach the House of Representatives this week. The Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Ikhlas Al-Dulaimi, said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /, that 'the schedules of the general budget law will reach the House of Representatives and the Finance Committee during the current week, after the Council of Ministers voted on them,' noting that the ceiling of the general budget has risen to about 220 trillion dinars. And its deficit rate is high. She added, 'The Parliamentary Finance Committee will find an appropriate mechanism to reduce the deficit rate, and we will also try to shorten the time factor as much as possible to pass the budget quickly, especially now that we are in the current month of May,' indicating that 'The Finance Committee intends to shorten the hosting of representatives of the ministries and concerned authorities, and will also proceed to use its authority to assess the needs of ministries through the schedules and studies submitted by those sectors to the Finance Committee, and then present the general budget schedules to the House of Representatives for a final vote.' The Presidency of the House of Representatives decided to extend the legislative term for a period of thirty days, as the House had begun its first legislative term of the third legislative year, on January 9, 2024. Source: National Iraqi News Agency