Iraq
A session of the Iraqi parliament on September 30, 2023. Photo: Media office of Iraqi parliamentary speaker/Faceboook
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament will convene on Monday to vote on the 2024 budget bill, the legislature’s media office announced on Friday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and his cabinet earlier this month finalized a draft budget bill that seeks to increase spending for 2024.
The parliament’s media office announced on Friday that Monday's session will be dedicated to voting on the draft budget bill.
In June 2023, Iraq passed a three-year budget that included a record $152 billion in spending, allocating 12.6 percent to the Kurdistan Region.
Abdul Zahra al-Hindawi, the spokesperson for the Iraqi planning ministry told Rudaw on Monday that the government has allocated 211 trillion dinars (about $161 billion) for the 2024 federal budget.
According to Hindawi, the Kurdistan Region’s share is from the 2024 budget is 14 percent.
Iraq’s planning ministry on Saturday announced that the Kurdistan Region’s share of federal investment funds is 4.8 trillion dinars ($3.67 billion).
“The total investment expenditure allocated for the Kurdistan Region amounts to 4.875 trillion dinars. The ministry affirmed the government's commitment to the proportion allocated to the Kurdistan Region in all areas of expenditure,” read a statement from the planning ministry.
Around 2.7 trillion dinars (About $2.1 billion) of the investment funds allocated for the Kurdistan Region is dependent on the resumption of the Region’s oil exports that have been suspended since March 2023.
Federal budgets routinely require intense negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad. 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 month, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that an “appropriate” solution with the assistance of Sudani.
Earlier this month, 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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