KRG seeks $5 billion lifeline
Kurdish parliamentarians rejected the KRG's move to borrow $5 billion from international banks in light of a severe budget deficit, arguing that this would impose a heavy burden on the government itself and on the economy.
ERBIL, Iraq — Burdened by a severe budget deficit and an ongoing war against the Islamic State (IS) along a frontier of over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is seeking to borrow up to $5 billion from private international banks.
The move has sparked an uproar among Kurds, demonstrated by the weak support the move garnered during a parliament session to pass the loan bill.
It only secured 39 votes during the session June 2, attended by only 59 out of the 111 members of parliament. That is one of the lowest approval rates, if not the lowest, of any legislation passed in the Kurdish parliament since its establishment in 1992, a number of members of parliament and officials told Al-Monitor. On June 16, the parliament put to vote four other articles of the law as it had become clear that the legal quorum was not reached for voting on those articles during the June 2 meeting, Izzat Sabir, head of the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee in the Kurdistan parliament, told Al-Monitor.
Islamic blocs that make up around 15% of the seats in the Kurdish legislature unanimously boycotted the voting session largely on the grounds that the interest rate on any foreign loan will make it religiously prohibited.
