SULAIIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Council of Representatives voted early on Thursday to approve Fiscal Deficit Financing Bill during a session in which Kurdish lawmakers boycotted.
The Iraqi parliament held a session early on Thursday to adopt the fiscal deficit financing bill, which allows the federal government to borrow 12 trillion Iraqi dinars ($10 billion) in internal and external loans in order to pay salaries of the country’s public servants for the next three months in 2020.
The fiscal deficit financing bill was adopted by a majority from the Shia and Sunni lawmakers at dawn.
The Kurdish representatives walked out of the session due to their concern about the Kurdistan Region’s share set in the fiscal deficit financing bill.
Kurdish representative Shirwan Mirza said on Wednesday that the Kurdish lawmakers would vote on the bill after they were ensured that the Region’s share would be secured in the proposal.
“Some political parties stand against the transferring of the Kurdistan Region’s share because they say the Region is not committed to handing over oil and the border crossings’ revenue to the Iraqi government,” Mirza added.
“The parties intend to add a term to the proposal that commits the Kurdistan Region to handing over 480,000 barrels of oil and other non-oil revenues to the Iraqi government, in exchange for the Region’s financial entitlements,” he continued.
“This is unreal and cannot be implemented.”
Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer of crude, is facing an economic crisis over falling of oil prices and an OPEC+ agreement to cut production by more than one million barrels per day as well as the coronavirus pandemic.
A large portion of Iraq’s budget relies exclusively on oil exports while the oil prices have plummeted amid the global recession due to the pandemic.
Due to the financial shortfall, the federal government has been falling behind in paying civil servants on time since September.
