Natural resources make up 70 percent of Kurdistan Region budget: Minister 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Seventy percent of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) budget comes from natural resources, said the interim Minister of Natural Resources. 

Kamal Mohammad made the remarks in a televised speech broadcast by government media on the third anniversary of the KRG ninth cabinet’s inauguration. 

Outlining the importance of his ministry to the Kurdistan Region, Mohammad said that 70 percent of the KRG’s budget comes from the natural resources his government office manages. 

He said it also provides fuel for electricity plants, costing the KRG nearly $1 billion annually. 

According to the latest Deloitte report, the government pocketed over $3 billion in the first three months of 2022. 

Over $1 billion of the debt owed by the KRG to oil and gas companies has been repaid during the current cabinet, the minister said. 

Over 5,000 jobs have also been created in energy fields for people in the Kurdistan Region, he added. 

Hydrocarbons management is one of the most contentious issues between Erbil and Baghdad. 

Energy disputes were on Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s agenda during his latest visit to Baghdad, where he reiterated the autonomous region’s constitutional rights.