Iraq
A man fills car up with petrol at a Baghdad fuel station on March 29, 2024. Photo: Rudaw/screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A recent decision by the Iraqi government to increase petrol prices by more than 25 percent has ignited public outcry, with lawmakers labeling it a “legal violation.”
In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the Iraqi Council of Ministers announced it was raising the price of one liter of premium petrol from 650 dinars to 850 dinars, and the price of one liter of super petrol from 1,000 dinars to 1,250 dinars. The changes will come into effect on May 1.
The news was greeted with fury in the streets of the capital.
“We work from morning to night and still barely make 25,000 to 30,000 dinars. The transportation authority pulls you over on the street and asks for taxes. And now the state wants to force you to fill your car with super petrol for 1,250 dinars, because the regular petrol will not take you anywhere,” Star Mohammed, a taxi driver in Baghdad, told Rudaw’s Anmar Ghazi on Friday.
The price of regular petrol has not been changed from 450 dinars per liter, but most drivers opt not to use it due to its poor quality that they say damages car engines, especially during the summer heat.
“Whenever we say the society is beginning to improve and we have started to develop and construct buildings and bridges, a new crisis appears, and now it is a petrol crisis,” said Baha Nida, another taxi driver.
A group of lawmakers in the parliament have begun collecting signatures for a petition to summon Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul-Ghani to the legislature to explain the reasons behind the price hike.
“It is certainly a clear legal violation. We stopped the derivatives tax in one of the articles of the budget and it was dropped… We were surprised by the government decision that violated the law to raise the tax. Tax is neither imposed nor is it levied unless by law,” Mustafa Sanad, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s finance committee, told Rudaw.
Iraqi MPs rejected a proposal in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 federal budget to impose additional fees on gasoline prices, considering that the opening of the Baiji and Karbala refineries had led to an increase in production.
Iraq currently ranks as the 14th country with the cheapest petrol prices around the world, according to the Global Petrol Prices index.
In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the Iraqi Council of Ministers announced it was raising the price of one liter of premium petrol from 650 dinars to 850 dinars, and the price of one liter of super petrol from 1,000 dinars to 1,250 dinars. The changes will come into effect on May 1.
The news was greeted with fury in the streets of the capital.
“We work from morning to night and still barely make 25,000 to 30,000 dinars. The transportation authority pulls you over on the street and asks for taxes. And now the state wants to force you to fill your car with super petrol for 1,250 dinars, because the regular petrol will not take you anywhere,” Star Mohammed, a taxi driver in Baghdad, told Rudaw’s Anmar Ghazi on Friday.
The price of regular petrol has not been changed from 450 dinars per liter, but most drivers opt not to use it due to its poor quality that they say damages car engines, especially during the summer heat.
“Whenever we say the society is beginning to improve and we have started to develop and construct buildings and bridges, a new crisis appears, and now it is a petrol crisis,” said Baha Nida, another taxi driver.
A group of lawmakers in the parliament have begun collecting signatures for a petition to summon Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul-Ghani to the legislature to explain the reasons behind the price hike.
“It is certainly a clear legal violation. We stopped the derivatives tax in one of the articles of the budget and it was dropped… We were surprised by the government decision that violated the law to raise the tax. Tax is neither imposed nor is it levied unless by law,” Mustafa Sanad, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s finance committee, told Rudaw.
Iraqi MPs rejected a proposal in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 federal budget to impose additional fees on gasoline prices, considering that the opening of the Baiji and Karbala refineries had led to an increase in production.
Iraq currently ranks as the 14th country with the cheapest petrol prices around the world, according to the Global Petrol Prices index.
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