Iraq’s new federal budget totals $152.2 billion

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, stated that Iraq’s new budget reached 197.8 trillion dinars (about 152.2 billion USD).

Al-Sudani confirmed that the general budget will be repeated for three years as part of the government’s plan to support financial stability.

The Iraqi government referred the general budget to the Parliament for approval.

The fiscal deficit is around 63 trillion dinars (48.5 billion USD), according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

Iraq is the second largest oil producer in OPEC, and the country relies on revenues from selling crude oil to cover more than 90 percent of its expenses.

The price of a barrel of crude oil in the new budget was set at 70 USD, while the average oil exports will be around 3.5 million barrels per day, 400 thousand barrels of which are produced from the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

More than 12 percent of the total new federal budget is allocated to cities in the Kurdistan region.

Al-Sudani stressed that the government is keen to ensure that the federal budget is a reflection of the government’s program that the Iraqi Parliament voted on.

Al-Sudani clarified that this budget will be repeated for three years, according to the Financial Management Law, which authorized the Council of Ministers to present a budget for three years, and that the Ministries of Finance and Planning can make amendments with the approval of the Parliament in case numbers, oil prices or quantities changed.

The Iraqi Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, announced on Sunday the completion of the draft federal budget law for 2023, adding that it was sent to the Council of Ministers to be discussed.

Sami mentioned in a statement that 2023 budget aims to address the effects of international, regional and local economic challenges.

Sami also elaborated that the new budget will focus on development priorities, support for the social protection network, and groups in dire need.

“We worked over the past months to come up with a budget that responds to the needs of the Iraqi economy,” Sami stated.

Additionally, the Finance Minister noted that the new budget provides a safe cover for strategic and sustainable development projects.

Iraq had no budget during 2022, and the actual spending during 2021 was based on the Financial Management Law.

Although Iraq is an oil exporter, it imports the main oil derivatives, such as gasoline, gas oil, and white oil.

According to the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), more than five million tons of oil derivatives, worth 5.3 billion USD, were imported last year, compared to 4.7 million tons, worth 3.3 billion USD, in 2021.