Despite Baghdad-Erbil agreement, Iraq fails to pass federal budget bill
Disagreements over the dollar exchange rate and foreign loans have blocked the parliament from passing the country's budget bill for a fifth time.
Iraq’s parliament failed to pass the federal budget bill on Sunday despite a last-minute agreement between Erbil and Baghdad over the Kurdistan Region’s share. Now disagreements loom over reversing the dollar exchange rate and the addition of foreign loans.
In December, Iraq’s cabinet approved a 2021 draft budget of 150 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $103 billion) and sent it to the parliament for approval. But disputes over the Kurdistan Regional Government's oil and non-oil revenues have delayed the vote.
In January, a KRG delegation arrived in Baghdad to seek an agreement on northern Iraq's share of the budget. Erbil and Baghdad had reached agreements in the past but several political blocs objected to them.
A vote was scheduled for mid-March, but it was delayed to last Saturday, then again to Sunday, when it was pushed back another four hours as talks intensified to reach a deal. Representatives from the KRG and a bloc within Baghdad’s Council of Representatives removed a large hurdle when they reached a last-minute consensus over Article 11, which pertains to the Kurdistan Region’s share of the overall budget.
