High-level team formed to implement budget law: KRG official

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Chief of Staff to the Council of Ministers’ Presidency Omed Sabah at a press conference on Saturday announced that Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has formed a high-level team to implement the budget law.

Sabah said that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani has also formed a similar unit in his administration.

"After the 2014 budget cuts, the Kurdistan Region will be re-integrated into the Iraqi budget for the first time," he added.

Moreover, Sabah confirmed that they have worked to ensure the Kurdistan Region's monthly shares and financial entitlements arrive on time.

Earlier, Sabah told Kurdistan 24 that the KRG delegation will soon visit Baghdad to discuss practical steps to implement the budget law.

Despite having objectives on certain provisions of the law, which Kurdish leaders have cited as undermining the Region's status as a federal entity, Kurdish lawmakers voted to pass the bill in early June following several delays.

Hailed as one of the country’s biggest budgets, the state expenditures are set at 198.91 trillion Iraqi dinars ($153 billion) with a deficit of more than 64 trillion dinars (over $48 billion).

The Kurdistan Region’s share of the federal budget is 12.67 percent, amounting to more than $12 billion annually.

Oil and gas management has been among the thorniest issues between Erbil and Baghdad for over a decade. This led to the suspension of the Region’s share in previous federal budgets.