Oil share slips to 79% as Iraq spending outpaces revenue

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s federal spending exceeded revenue by 18.727 trillion dinars ($14.23B) through the end of June, with oil accounting for about 79% of state income, Finance Ministry budget-execution data showed.

Total revenue reached 35.946 trillion dinars ($27.32B), including 28.433 trillion dinars ($21.61B) from oil and 7.513 trillion dinars ($5.71B) from non-oil sources, while spending stood at 54.673 trillion dinars ($41.55B).

Public-sector salaries were the largest spending item at 30.769 trillion dinars ($23.38B), followed by social welfare at 13.858 trillion dinars ($10.53B). Grants, subsidies, interest, and other expenses totaled 4.150 trillion dinars ($3.15B), while spending on goods reached 1.657 trillion dinars ($1.26B) and services 122.8 billion dinars ($93.3M).

Investment spending totaled 2.513 trillion dinars ($1.91B), including 1.634 trillion dinars ($1.24B) under the government’s investment program, 758.9 billion dinars ($576.8M) for regional development, and 86.7 billion dinars ($65.9M) for petrodollar projects. Buildings and services received the largest sectoral share at 1.188 trillion dinars ($902.9M), followed by industry at 869.8 billion dinars ($661M) and transport and communications at 332.9 billion dinars ($253M).

The figures put non-oil revenue at nearly 21% of the total, compared with roughly 12% previously reported for overall government income, though Iraq remains heavily dependent on crude exports. Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi on Monday gave the Oil Ministry one week to produce tangible export solutions, warning that every barrel left unsold meant delayed salaries or public services and lost revenue for the state.

Read more: No exit but Hormuz: Iraq's economic vulnerability exposed