SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Several Iraqi lawmakers oppose Baghdad’s decision to allocate 400 billion Iraqi dinars ($274 million) to the Kurdistan Region, said a lawmaker on Monday.
Last Tuesday, The Federal government decided to send 400 billion Iraqi dinars ($274 million) to the Region for the months of November and December.
The Federal government has allocated 400 billion as the Region’s share in the Federal budget to pay the salaries of public servants in the Kurdistan Region.
“Allocating the 400 billion diners to the Region is illegal,” said Raid al-Maliki, as he was quoted by the Iraqi Media.
Due to the recent political turmoil in the country, Iraq has not been able to vote for the new budget law as the last elected government took office in late October, ending nearly a year of deadlock since a parliamentary election.
“Currently, Iraq does not have the budget law, consequently, there are no legal provisions to allow to send the money,” the lawmaker added.
Under the 2021 budget law, the Kurdistan Region will be committed to producing 460,000 barrels of oil per day (BPD).
After deducting expenses for production operations in the Region, transport of oil, and the domestic consumption of crude oil, the Region government must hand over to Baghdad revenues generated from regional oil exports of 250,000 BPD, according to Iraq’s SOMO pricing, as well as 50 percent of non-oil revenue.
The Kurdistan Region, in return, will receive its share of the budget.
However, the lawmaker said, “the Region failed to fulfill its commitment, handing over no revenues to the Federal government.”
In the meantime, despite the fact that Baghdad has already decided to allocate the money, however, the time of the sending of 400 billion diners to the Region remained unclear so far.
