No agreement on budget, Iraqi parliament postpones vote

ERBIL, Kurdistan region — The Iraqi parliament on Saturday postponed a vote on the 2021 budget after failing to reach an agreement between blocs over the Kurdistan Region’s share. 

Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi led last minute negotiations with delegations from the Kurdistan Region and other parliamentary blocs on Saturday, but they were unable to agree on a final text and the vote has been postponed to March 27, according to state media.

Shiite parties wanted to make additions to Article 11 of the bill, which dictates the Kurdistan Region’s share of federal funds, according to Rudaw's reporter Halkawt Aziz in Baghdad. 
 
Ahmed Al-Saffar, a member of the parliament’s finance committee, said the new amendment would require the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hand over the value of 250,000 barrels of oil a day to Baghdad, in addition to 50% of non-oil revenues, such as customs fees and taxes.
 
Deputy KRG Prime Minister Qubad Talabani has led Erbil’s budget discussions with Baghdad, repeatedly visiting the Iraqi capital over the past few months to hammer out a deal. On Friday night, he said talks were “going very well,” but a planned parliamentary session for Friday was postponed to Saturday. 
 
Iraqi lawmakers have criticized the Kurdistan Region's independent oil sales, with many wanting Erbil to hand over all of its oil to the State Organization for Marketing Oil (SOMO) in exchange for federal funds. 
 
Both governments have also seen revenues drop due to low oil prices last year. The KRG is unable to pay its civil servants on time and in full, while the Iraqi government took out loans from the Central Bank to pay salaries for the last three months of 2020. Baghdad also devalued the dinar in December.