SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Parliament will convene on Saturday to finish the first reading of Iraq’s draft budget bill for fiscal year 2021, a lawmaker said.
Coordinator of Iraqi parliament’s committee of finance Ahmed Safar said the second reading of the draft bill would be on Monday and Tuesday, Iraqi media reported.
“All articles in the bill could be changed. It is an open option for each article which doesn’t go with programs of the government and ministries,” Safar added.
“This bill has been the biggest budget since 2003. It is broad and comprehensive,” he added.
In December, the Council of Ministers approved the draft budget of 150 trillion dinars ($103 billion) to the Iraqi parliament for consideration and a vote.
The budget deficit would be estimated at 58 trillion dinars ($48 billion). Income is set at 92 trillion dinars, with oil revenue standing at 73 trillion.
The draft budget is based on a world oil price of $42 a barrel and expected oil exports of 3.25 million barrels per day (bpd), including 250,000 bpd from the Kurdistan Region.
Hit by squeezed revenues, Iraq’s central bank on Saturday increased the sale price of U.S. dollars to banks and currency exchanges to 1,450 dinars, from 1,182 dinars, seeking to close the gap of widened 2021 budget inflation after a collapse in global oil prices, a major source of Iraq’s financial resources.
Iraq has the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves and depends on oil revenues to fund 95 percent of its national budget.
