SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi parties have yet to reach an agreement on the draft federal budget law for 2021, said a member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives.
Lawmaker Jamal Kochar told Esta Media Network that neither Shia, Sunni nor Kurdish parties had reached a deal on the budget and that the draft law would not be passed if it was voted on in the parliament.
“No agreement has been made on the budget yet … The ball is not in the hand of any party. Indeed, the ball is not even in the court yet,” he added.
Meanwhile, member of Iraqi parliament’s committee of finance Ahmed Rashid said the Shia parties had yet to agree on a term on the Kurdistan Region’s share of the federal budget.
“They haven’t even made any suggestion in this regard,” he told reporters.
The draft budget law commits the Kurdistan Region to hand over 250,000 barrels of oil per day and 50% of non-oil revenue to Baghdad in exchange for the Region’s share of the budget.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has sent a high-level delegation to Baghdad several times in the past months to reach an agreement with the Iraqi government and parties.
Member of Sairoon bloc in the Iraqi Council of Representatives Badr Zyadi said last month that the Kurdistan Region had yet to disclose its non-oil revenues to Baghdad.
“There is a big dispute between Kurds, the financial committee and the political parties regarding the budget,” Zyadi told state news agency INA.
“It needs a political consensus and more time to vote on it,” the lawmaker said.
In January, Kurdistan Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Hemn Hawrami said the issue between Baghdad and Erbil was on article 11 of the budget bill, which is about oil exports in the Region.
“The problem is with Article 11, which is specific to the issue of handing over oil [to Baghdad],” he added, noting that the article demands Erbil and Baghdad finalize entitlements for 2004-2020.
It is still not clear when the Iraqi Council of Representatives will vote on the draft federal budget law, which the Council of Ministers sent to the parliament in December.
