Baghdad / NINA / — The Parliamentary Finance Committee has outlined a series of objections and observations raised by Kurdish blocs concerning the 2027 Federal General Budget bill—a draft that the Council of Representatives is still awaiting from the government.

Deputy Chair of the Committee, Ikhlas al-Dulaimi, stated to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA) that "there are numerous concerns regarding the general budget, which require significant amendments. Furthermore, no final agreement has yet been reached between the federal government’s Ministries of Finance and Oil and the corresponding ministries of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)."

She explained: "There is strong Kurdish opposition to the percentages allocated to the Kurdistan Region—which, according to the schedules we have reviewed, amount to a total of 6% (including sovereign expenditures) rather than 12.67%. This equates to 12.8 trillion dinars out of a total general budget allocation of 217 trillion dinars. Moreover, this allocation is contingent upon 'actual spending.' Additionally, non-sovereign expenditures have been categorized under the 'sovereign expenditures' section of the budget—a development that has not occurred previously."

She added: "The budget will face significant challenges this fiscal year, making it difficult to secure funding for employee salaries—an expenditure reaching approximately 11–13 trillion dinars—following the regularization of contract-based employees, the implementation of bonuses and promotions, and new appointments. This necessitates sitting down for dialogue and discussion to establish a sound foundation for resolving these disputes."

Regarding the handover of oil revenues, the Deputy Chair of the Finance Committee confirmed: "There is no objection from the Kurdish side. Joint meetings are currently taking place between government delegations from the federal Ministries of Finance and Oil and their counterparts from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)."

She continued: "There is a proposal from the Kurdish side to have oil revenues assessed by the federal Ministry of Oil and the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). However, the condition to set a specific cap on actual expenditures—in order to calculate the region’s share based on an output of 400,000 to 450,000 barrels per day—is unattainable and would trigger a new crisis for the general budget."

As for non-oil revenues and border crossings, she explained: "The Kurdish blocs have not objected to the management of border crossings or the implementation of the ASYCUDA system. They also did not oppose the allocation of 50% of these revenues to the provinces. However, other provinces are demanding that their own revenues remain directly with them; they argue that each governor should have the authority to collect and maximize the revenues generated within their province, with those funds remaining as part of the province’s own share. This would be a simpler and more efficient approach for the general budget process, rather than routing these funds into the federal treasury—only for them to be returned to the province after a delay that could last as long as a full year."/ End




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