Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani presiding over a cabinet meeting on May 19, 2024. Photo: PM Sudani's office.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and his cabinet on Sunday finalized a draft budget bill that seeks to increase spending for 2024.
“The Council of Ministers voted on the tables of the federal budget for 2024 and referred it to the Council of Representatives for approval,” read a statement from Sudani’s office.
In June 2023, Iraq passed a three-year budget that included a record $152 billion in spending, of which the Kurdistan Region’s share is 12.6 percent.
Rudaw has learned that the government is seeking to increase the 2024 budget from 199 trillion dinars (about $152 billion) to 225 trillion dinars (about $172 billion), with a deficit of some 80 trillion dinars (about $61 billion).
The parliament will now consider the cabinet’s draft.
“The steps to pass the budget bill will begin. First, the parliament presidency will send it to the Finance Committee, then it will be put on the agenda and then it will be approved, like any other bill,” said Dara Sekanyani, a member of the legal committee in the Iraqi parliament.
Sekanyani said approval of the bill could take some time, “because the budget bill has too many details.”
Federal budgets routinely require intense negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad, though the two governments are on better terms now compared to the previous year, particularly about payment of the Region’s civil servant salaries.
Last month, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that an “appropriate” solution to the salary problem with the assistance of Sudani.
The cash-strapped Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG.
Last week, a delegation from the Kurdistan Region attended meetings of the committee responsible for budget amendments. After their return, they said in a statement that the details will be amended in such a way that the rights of the Kurdistan Region are protected.
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