Iraqi-U.S. Cost Sharing: Iraq Has a Cumulative Budget Surplus Offering the Potential for Further Cost-Sharing

GAO Sep. 2010 Report, Table 1

Note: Annual cash surpluses may not equal the difference between total revenues and total expenditures due to rounding. a. The 2007 Board of Supreme Audit report provides inconsistent information on expenditures. The narrative section of the report lists total expenditures as 39.3 trillion dinar ($31.2 billion), whereas the report’s financial statements list expenditures as 32.7 trillion dinar ($26.0 billion). The 2007 report states that this difference is due to a new accounting guide implemented by the Ministry of Finance, which requires the Board of Supreme Audit to report operating and investment spending separately. We used the 39.3 trillion dinar figure as an estimate of 2007 expenditures because we believe it includes both operating and investment expenditures. See Republic of Iraq, Board of Supreme Audit, Financial Statement for the Republic of Iraq through 12/31/07 (Apr. 14, 2010). b. The cumulative cash surplus through 2004 is based on information from the 2005 Board of Supreme Audit report. The 2005 report does not contain data on cumulative revenues and expenditures before 2005. See Republic of Iraq, Board of Supreme Audit, Financial Statement for the Republic of Iraq through 12/31/05 (Mar. 30, 2009). c. To calculate the net cumulative surplus, we estimated the net cumulative surplus through the end 2009 in Iraqi dinars and then used the 2009 budget exchange rate (1,180 Iraqi dinar per U.S. dollar) to express it in U.S. dollars. Thus, the cumulative cash surplus is different from the sum of all annual surpluses due to the appreciation of the Iraqi dinar. To calculate cumulative revenues and expenditures, we converted each year’s revenues and expenditures from Iraqi dinars to U.S. dollars at that year’s exchange rate and summed the resulting dollar-denominated, annual revenues and expenditures through 2009. As a result, the cumulative cash surplus does not equal the difference between cumulative revenues and cumulative expenditures due to the appreciation of the Iraqi dinar. Source: GAO analysis of Iraqi Ministry of Finance data on government revenues and expenditures. "Iraqi-U.S. Cost-Sharing: Iraq Has a Cumulative Budget Surplus, Offering the Potential for Further Cost-Sharing," 1.75 MB Government Accountability Office (GAO), Sep. 2010