Iraq's parliament on Saturday adopted an $88.5 billion budget for 2018, with Kurdish lawmakers boycotting the vote to protest against a cut in the amount allocated to their autonomous region. The reduction comes after a controversial independence reference by the Kurds last year sparked a furious dispute with the central government. The budget is based on projected oil exports of 3.9 million barrels per day, including 250,000 bpd produced in the Kurdistan autonomous region of northern Iraq, at a price of $46 per barrel.
It also projects $77.5 billion (63 billion euros) in revenues and a deficit of $10.6 billion, and allocates $20.8 billion for investments. Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the vote because it reduced Kurdistan's part of the national budget from 17 percent to 12.6 percent. Article 9 of the Iraqi constitution stipulates that Kurdistan's share of the budget must reflect the size of the population of the autonomous region.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.