Iraqi MP Suggests to Cut Kurdistan Budget Share

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Baghdad's refusal to respect the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) budget share incentives the KRG toward producing more oil and gas independent of the central government.

On Sunday, Dec 13, Razzaq Mihebis , an Iraqi member of parliament told Iraqi media that the central government must use the budget share to put pressure on the KRG. Mihebis stated that the central government must block the KRG's assets in Baghdad and added that Baghdad must cut the KRG’s budget share from the government of Iraq in case of future independent natural gas and oil sales.

Mihebis continued, “The central government must stop the Kurdistan Region from exporting natural gas to Europe through Turkey independent from Baghdad.” The parliamentarian stated that independent oil and gas deals are against the Iraqi constitution.

He also mentioned that the central government may block the KRG’s assets and budget share (seventeen percent) to pressure the KRG to respect the Iraqi constitution.

The KRG claims that Baghdad has refused to respect the national budget share of Kurdistan over the last two years. For its part, the central government under the previous Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claim that the KRG Kurds failed to transfer agreed upon amounts of oil and gas to Baghdad over that same time period.

The KRG is entitled seventeen percent of Iraq’s total national budget. Baghdad’s refusal to pay this amount has introduced major financial issues in the Kurdistan Region. Salaries of government employees, the war against the Islamic State, the large amount of Syrian refugees and IDPs are some of the major financial issues the KRG faces due to the lack of budget payment from Baghdad.