Amid battle with IS, Iraq parliament approves next budget

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s parliament has approved next year’s budget of about 100.67 trillion Iraqi dinars, or nearly $85.17 billion.

Lawmaker Ashwaq al-Jabouri said after Wednesday’s session that the 2017 budget will run with a deficit of 21.65 trillion dinars, or about $18.32 billion. Al-Jabouri said the budget is based on an oil price of $42 per barrel and a daily export capacity of 3.75 million barrels.

She says the budget introduces new taxes and cuts in government salaries and pensions.

Iraq holds the world’s fourth largest oil reserves, some 143.1 billion barrels, and oil revenues make up nearly 95 per cent of its budget. But like other oil-reliant countries, Iraq’s economy has suffered from plummeting global oil prices as well as a costly war against the Islamic State group.