رImproving the transparency of public revenues and their economic implications on the general budget...a study in selected government institutions

Abstract

The transparency of the state's public revenues has become of great importance in financial, economic, social and political studies alike, and represents an important tool that enhances the stability of the general budget, as it has a prominent role in achieving the fair distribution of wealth for members of society, as well as social welfare and eliminating the scourge of poverty and corruption. Due to the importance of public finance transparency and its ability to achieve many economic, political and social goals, international economic and financial institutions have paid attention to the issue of transparency, and have played an important role in setting many of the necessary standards to enhance financial transparency, as these institutions realized that giving the character of financial transparency is a guarantee for countries to benefit from their capabilities and available resources. Iraq has achieved remarkable progress in some government institutions in the degree of transparency after 2020, according to international reports. For further verification, and despite the weak culture of transparency, disclosure and cooperation with regulatory institutions and relevant international organizations among most officials and employees due to fear of defaming officials or using them as a political weapon between the parties. However, the researcher used the interview method with some officials who cooperated with him to varying degrees, but it resulted in some practical results for the five government institutions that were used as a sample in the research, namely (the General Tax Authority, the General Customs Authority, the State Real Estate Department, the Ministry of Oil, and the Ministry of Electricity). The results of the interviews showed that both the General Tax Authority and the Ministry of Oil and Electricity have the highest degree of disclosure and cooperation, exceeding 90, followed by the State Real Estate Department with an acceptable degree, and finally, the General Customs Authority with less than that. The main recommendation can be summarized by improving websites and uploading annual and periodic reports on these websites, which improves the transparency of government institutions first, and then the degree of transparency of the country in general. It also provides researchers and specialists with important data through which they can conduct their research without difficulty and with high credibility that benefits these institutions.