A budget hanging on an oil thread.. The cost per barrel reveals the depth of the rift between Baghdad and Erbil.
Member of the Oil and Gas Committee, MP Ali Shaddad, confirmed today, Friday (April 18, 2025), that Article (12) of the Triennial Budget Law represents one of the most prominent reasons for the delay in sending the 2025 budget tables to the House of Representatives, explaining that it sparked a sharp dispute between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Shaddad's media office said in a statement received by "Baghdad Today", that "the budget schedules for the year 2025, which the government is supposed to send to the House of Representatives for approval, may be delayed due to the lack of agreement on Article (12) of the Triennial Budget Law, in addition to the decline in oil prices."
He added that "the decline in oil prices will contribute to the exacerbation of the financial deficit in the budget," indicating that "the latter was built on the basis of an estimated price per barrel of (70) dollars, which is no longer realistic in light of the decline in prices, in addition to the accumulated deficit from the past two years."
Shaddad continued, "The government is concerned about the financial obligations that may be imposed by the budget schedules," noting that "the latter has announced on more than one occasion that it is suffering from a severe shortage of financial liquidity."
He stressed that "this shortage will not affect the salaries of employees and retirees, but it may lead to delays in the disbursement of certain financial dues, such as bonuses and promotions, as well as delays in the release of governorate budgets." link
