Iraqi parliament committee amends Kurdistan-related budget items

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament's finance committee will meet on Friday to vote on the draft 2023 budget, a day after amending articles relating to the Kurdistan Region's share of federal funds.

Some of the amendments made to Articles 13 and 14 include establishing Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) as the responsible party for selling Kurdistan Region's oil, decreasing the period for Erbil to pay off its debts from seven years to five, creating an account for Kurdistan Region's oil revenues in the Iraqi central bank, and granting the finance minister the power to authorize the Region's prime minister to make withdrawals from that account. In the previous draft, that power was held by the Iraqi prime minister.

Another amendment requires Erbil to pay back 10 percent of the cuts made to the salaries of public sector employees on a monthly basis.

The Kurdistan Regional Government made significant salary cuts to its public sector employees in 2014, after its budget share was cut by Baghdad, oil prices plummeted, and war with the Islamic State (ISIS) erupted.

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) members in the committee left the meeting in protest and plan to appeal the changes.

"We will collect signatures from members of the committee to appeal the vote conducted to amend Kurdistan Region's share," Khalil Doski, KDP MP and member of the committee, told Rudaw's Hastyar Qadir, adding that eight signatures are required to redo a vote in the 23-member committee.

Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi announced on Thursday that the parliament will vote on the three-year budget bill on Saturday, more than two months after the cabinet approved it.

The 2023 budget includes a record $152 billion in spending, 12.6 percent of which is allocated for the Kurdistan Region.

The parliament’s second deputy speaker Shakhawan Abdullah said prior to the amendments that they “will not allow” the legislature to vote on the budget before the parties reach an agreement on Articles 13 and 14.

A member of the KDP, Abdullah described the amendments as being more “political” than financial, and stressed that they will not any changes to the Articles as it the product of months of negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad.

The Kurdistan Region's independent oil sales have long been a source of tension between Erbil and Baghdad.

Iraq did not have a budget law in 2022 amid political uncertainty after the 2021 election. The lack of a budget jeopardized the oil-dependent economy with Baghdad prevented from taking advantage of soaring oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine to combat poverty and bring much-needed economic stability.