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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi Council of Ministers will most likely pass the final draft of the 2023 budget by the end of next week and send it over to the parliament, an advisor to the Iraqi PM said on Sunday.
“It is highly likely that by the end of next week the council of ministers will approve the 2023 budget and send it to the parliament,” advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, told Rudaw’s Hemin Baban.
The advisor added that the total budget is not expected to exceed 200 trillion dinars (around $137bn), with the price of a barrel of oil being set at no more than 70 dollars.
Iraq did not pass a budget in 2022 due to its inability to form a government for a year following the October 2021 elections.
Iraq last passed a federal budget in March 2021 after months of contention over the Kurdistan Region’s share of the federal budget.
The budget has been a point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad for several years, especially after the Kurdistan Region's decision to sell its oil through Turkey, and the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq in 2014.
Almost two years after Iraq passed its last budget law, Erbil and Baghdad remain in disagreement over several different issues.
Tensions have been high between the two governments since the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruling in February challenging the legality of the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law, deeming it “unconstitutional.”
The court ruling struck down the independence of the Region’s energy sector, jeopardizing its industry.
The decision has been repeatedly challenged and widely condemned by Kurdish authorities.
Kurdish government delegations have travelled to Baghdad on several occasions to reach a common ground with the Iraqi government, however none of the visits have had a solid outcome.
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