Page 8 - MEOG Week 12 2021

MEOG POLICY MEOG

Iraq postpones 2021 budget vote as

contention about Kurdish share persists

IRAQ IRAQ’S parliament over the weekend postponed after changing their position on December’s
a vote on the country’s 2021 budget after factions draft agreement.
failed to reach agreement over the share to be This was followed by comments by MP
apportioned to the Kurdistan Region. Mazen Al-Faisaly who said that the Kurdish
The ballot had been planned for Saturday, delegation had refused to include specific details
but despite last-minute efforts led by Parliament of the about the volume of oil to be delivered
Speaker Mohammed al-Habousi with several from KRG-controlled fields to the SOMO,
blocs, including a delegation representing the while Baghdad has said that pre-payent deals
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the agreed between Erbil and offtakers are not
parties were unable to agree on final text for the constitutional.
budget. The vote has now been postponed until The KRG’s deputy prime minister and head of
March 27. a delegation negotiating with Baghdad, Qubad
Erbil-based news outlet Rudaw reported that Talabani, told Rudaw on the eve of the vote: “So
Shiite parties had wanted to include additions to far, it has been going very well … I hope we can
Article 11, which determines the semi-autono- reach a good conclusion tonight”.
mous Kurdistan Region’s share of the total. Talabani has led Erbil’s discussions and has
In previous versions of the budget, the KRG been back and forth to the federal capital Bagh-
has been allocated 12.67% of the total budget, dad in an effort to reach an accord.
with this contingent on it handing over 250,000 The breakdown appears to have come as
barrels per day (bpd) of crude to Iraq’s State Oil something of a surprise to the KRG, with the
Marketing Organization (SOMO) and giving the deputy head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party
revenues to the central treasury. (KDP) in the Iraqi parliament having said an
According to Ahmed Al-Saffar, a member agreement had been reached between Erbil and
of the parliament’s finance committee, the latest the financial committee.
amendment would require 50% of non-oil reve- However, Dara Rashid, the regional govern-
nues including customs fees and taxes as well as ment’s Minister of Planning, said recently that in
the 250,000 bpd of crude. the case of a ‘no deal’ outcome, “the Kurdistan
Meanwhile, local media also reported that Region would depend on its incomes, oil and
Shia and Sunni factions had boycotted the vote non-oil”.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 24•March•2021