Some blocs make changes to the Kurdistan Region’s share in the Iraqi budget

Economy 10:23 AM - 2021-03-27

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The Iraqi Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that some parliamentary blocs have made changes to the articles on the Kurdistan Region’s share in the draft federal budget law for 2021.

 

After many dialogues and meetings between Baghdad and Erbil, an agreement was finally reached between the two sides on March 19 on the 2021 federal budget. 

 

MP Shirwan Mirza, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee and PUK bloc member in the Iraqi Parliament, said during a special statement to PUKmedia: "Some parliamentary blocs have changed the articles related to the Kurdistan Region in the draft federal budget law for 2021 following the agreement between the Finance Committee and the negotiating delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government."

 

He added: "The change took place in the paragraphs of Article 11 concerning the share of the Kurdistan Region, as it was agreed that the Kurdistan Region produces 460 thousand barrels of oil per day, from which the cost of production and extraction and petrodollars are deducted, and revenues of 250 thousand barrels per day are delivered to SOMO.

 

He explained: "The change made by some blocks is the delivery of revenues of 460 thousand barrels of oil per day to the SOMO company, after which the cost of production and extraction and the petrodollars are deducted."

 

He said: "According to the agreement between the Finance Committee and the negotiating delegation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), if the KRG does not commit to delivering oil to SOMO, then the financial management law will be returned to resolve the matter, but the new change stipulates that if the KRG does not deliver the oil, the Iraqi government will return to the Fiscal Deficit Financing Law, meaning not to send any financial allocations to the Kurdistan Region."

 

He pointed out that there are other disagreements about the draft budget law, in addition to the Kurdistan Region’s share, such as the dollar exchange rate, the provinces ’share of the budget, and the Kurdistan region’s share, which is not the only obstacle to the draft budget law.

 

Last night the Iraqi parliament announced the postponement of the session to vote on the federal budget law for 2021 scheduled for Saturday to Sunday.

 

The KRG's delegation, headed Qubad Talabani, has made several visits to the Iraqi capital Baghdad to reach an agreement with the federal government on the Kurdistan Region's share in the Iraqi budget bill and resolve the outstanding issues between the two sides.

 

Erbil has been heavily reliant on its federal budget share from Baghdad to pay its civil servants and undertake service projects since 2003. In 2014, Baghdad stopped sending the funds fully, and on time after oil prices fell, war broke out with the Islamic State (ISIS), and relations between the federal and regional governments soured over Erbil’s decision to export its oil independently.

 

 

 

PUKmedia