"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [ظ‎‎٣‎٠‎٩] (٨٦٢/٦٢١)

480 CURRENCY, FINANCE, COMMERCE, AND OIL
was largely provisional. In that year a Financial Secretariat was
constituted, the collection of revenue being entrusted to the Revenue
Secretary and that of customs to the Commercial Secretary. When
ministries were instituted the Financial Secretariat was renamed the
Ministry of Finance, without, for a brief period, change or extension
of function. In April 1921, however, a Department of Customs and
Excise was constituted in the IMinistry of Finance, and in the fol
lowing October matters relating to land revenue were similarly trans
ferred. The Department of the Comptroller and Auditor-General
was instituted in 1924- British officials held most of the higher posts
in the Ministry of Finance until 193 0 ’ when they were replaced in
their executive offices by Iraqis, though they remained in the Ministry
as advisers.
In 1925 the financial administration was again reformed, and the
Iraqi Government then set out a clear policy in regard to the assess
ment and collection of land revenue:
j q'o reorganize revenue collection and to provide adequate
methods of auditing and accounting, in order to remove as far
as possible opportunities for speculation either by officials or
private individuals.
2. To dispense with the costly and vexatious task of forming
annual estimates of agricultural yields which were disturbing
to the cultivator and a source of corruption.
3. To set a definite and fixed rate of demand, payable in cash,
applicable to each type of land, whether owned privately (mulk)
or by the State (iniri), and to the method of irrigation employed
on it (p. 443)-
This policy meant that fixed demands must eventually be based
upon a cadastral survey and an assessment of the productive capacity
of the units of cultivable land, and for the four reasons given above
could only be introduced gradually.
The Budget
In 1919/20 the country was still disorganized and, as might be
expected, the so-called civil expenditure (522 lakhs of rupees) still
exceeded the revenue (495 lakhs), though the deficit was not large
(27 lakhs). 1 Of the expenditure approximately 28 lakhs (£215,670)
1 A lakh is a hundred thousand, generally shown with commas thus: 1 , 00 , 000 .
The exact figures were (at is. 6d. to the rupee):
Expenditure . . Rs. 521,87,780 or £3,914,083
Revenue . • Rs. 49S>36,5 10 or £3>7 I 5> 2 3^
Deficit . • Rs. 26,51,270 or £198,845