December 19, 2020 / 06:25 PM
Baghdad says has agreed with Erbil on 2021 budget

The Iraqi Minister of Finance announced that Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region, and Baghdad have agreed on 2021 budget law.

"We have reached an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on the 2021 budget," Ali Allawi told a number of Iraqi media outlets, according to Shar Press.

"We have included the demands of the Kurdistan Region in the draft budget law of 2021 and sent it to the parliament to approve it and turn it into law," Rudaw quoted Allawi as saying.

Allawi also said: "We will negotiate with the Kurdistan Region Negotiating Committee on the region's 2020 unpaid demands."

 It should be noted that on Saturday, December 19, the Iraqi Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, convened a meeting on the draft budget for 2021 and postponed its approval and submission to parliament for tomorrow, Sunday.

According to the Financial Management Act, the government must submit the budget bill to the parliament before October 15 each year, which means a delay of more than two months in submitting the 2021 budget bill to the parliament.

According to the published information, the price of oil in the budget bill is $42 and the amount of daily oil exports is estimated at 3,250,000 barrels, of which 250,000 barrels will be exported from the Kurdistan Region.

It should be noted that the Kurdistan Region Negotiating Committee has been in Baghdad for more than 10 days to agree on the 2021 budget, as well as the demands of the Kurdistan Region on the current Iraqi budget.

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