The Iraqi cabinet on 23 October approved the 2013 draft budget with total expenditure of ID138,000bn ($118.5bn), up 17.8% from ID117,123bn ($100.5bn) in 2012 and total revenue of ID119,200bn ($102.3bn), up 16.5% from ID102,327bn ($87.8bn). Total expenditure includes an allocation of ID55,000bn ($47.2bn) for investment projects. The resulting deficit is projected at ID18,800bn ($16.1bn), an increase of 27.1% from 2012. The draft budget will now need to be ratified by the federal parliament.
Announcing the cabinet’s approval, Iraqi government spokesman ‘Ali Dabbagh said that the budget will be based on an oil price assumption of $90/B and oil exports of 2.9mn b/d, including 250,000 b/d from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) area (MEES, 28 September). Oil exports in 2012 were set at 2.6mn b/d, including 175,000 b/d from the KRG, with a budget oil price of $85/B, up from $76.5/B in 2011 (MEES, 12 March). (CONTINUED - 277 WORDS)
