Iraqi Cabinet to discuss and approve budget law next Tuesday

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Cabinet is set to deliberate and approve the budget law for this year in its upcoming session on Tuesday. Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, Financial Advisor to the Prime Minister's office, told Shafaq News Agency.

Saleh indicated that the budget would be promptly forwarded to Parliament. However, "the deficit percentage in the budget is yet to be finalized."

In June 2023, the Iraqi Parliament greenlit the general budget covering 2023, 2024, and 2025.

The current budget marks Iraq's largest in history, estimated at approximately $153 billion annually, with the Kurdistan Region anticipated to receive around 12.6% of the total. 

Notably, the budget carries a substantial financial deficit of roughly $48 billion annually, the nation's highest recorded deficit, prompting concerns regarding potential repercussions amid oil price fluctuations.

The budget mandates a fixed price of $70 per barrel of oil and an exchange rate of 1300 dinars per US dollar for three years. 

Iraq's oil export target is set at 3.5 million bpd, including 400,000 bpd from the Kurdistan Region. However, Kurdistan's exports have been suspended since March 2023 through the Ceyhan port in Turkiye after a compensation order by the International Chamber of Commerce related to "unauthorized" oil exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018 without Baghdad's supervision.