Iraqi parliament approves Kurdistan’s share of 2021 budget
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi parliament on Wednesday evening succeeded in approving most of the articles of the federal financial budget for the year 2021, in particular the Kurdistan Region’s share, after disagreements and negotiations that spanned for months.
The Iraqi parliament had repeatedly failed to hold a session to vote on the budget at a time when the country is going through a stifling financial crisis due to the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak.
The House of Representatives voted on the budget law Wednesday after months of often contentious negotiations between various political factions in Iraq. The national parliament in Baghdad called on Tuesday for all lawmakers to attend the session.
Parliament voted on a budget of 164.4 trillion dinars (about $112 billion), and a fiscal deficit of 63 trillion dinars (about $43 billion).
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bashir Haddad, told Kurdistan 24 that the draft budget consists of a total of 58 articles, and indicated that articles 10 and 11, which relate to the Kurdistan Region and its share of 12.67 percent, were voted on in the presence of 215 deputies from among a total of 329 lawmakers.
The estimated revenues from exporting crude oil were calculated on the basis of an average price of 65,250 thousand dinars (about $45) and an export rate of 3.250 million barrels per day, including 250 thousand barrels per day from the Kurdistan Region.
Parliament also voted to delete five articles and postpone the vote on another one from the draft budget. It also decided to vote on 12 new articles.
Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly