Iraq seeks fiscal stability ...
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Annual expenditure would amount to $152 billion, with future modifications possible in the event of oil price fluctuations. Iraq is the second biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and crude exports represent around 90 percent of the government’s revenue.
Baghdad projects annual revenues of $103.4 billion from oil sales, based on projected exports of 3.5 million barrels a day with an average price of $70 dollars a barrel. According to data cited by OPEC, Iraq produced more than 4.3 million barrels daily in January.
The budget also seeks to illustrate warming ties between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan, the autonomous province in the country’s north, with $307 million allocated for civil servant salaries.
In exchange, 400,000 barrels of oil produced daily by the Kurds will go to the central government.
Iraq’s public deficit stands at more than $48 billion, up from $19.8 billion in 2021 when the government last presented a budget.