Abadi holds a meeting with the Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi parliament

Abadi holds a meeting with the Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi parliament



Twilight News

3 hours ago

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi began a meeting with representatives of the Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi parliament.

Abadi arrived shortly before the headquarters of parliament to discuss the federal budget for the current year, which has not been approved so far.

A statement issued by the media, First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Hammam Hamoudi that the latter presides over an "important" meeting in the parliament building to discuss the issues of the budget in the presence of Abadi.

The Kurdish blocs announced boycotting the meetings of approving the budget until the inclusion of its observations, stressing the guarantee of 17% of them to the Kurdistan Region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi was on Wednesday to the Iraqi parliament to discuss the 2018 budget.

Abadi said during his weekly press conference yesterday his readiness to cooperate with the House of Representatives and its competent committees to pass the budget, which hinder the differences of political blocs ratified, despite the arrival of parliament from the government last month.

The adoption of the budget objections by the Kurds to reduce the proportion allocated to them from 17 percent as decided by the budgets of the past years to 12.67 during the current year, which is one of the measures taken by the federal government against the authorities of the Kurdistan region following a referendum on the separation on September 25 last.

For their part, the Sunni MPs demand the allocation of funds to return the displaced and enable them to participate in the next general elections.

The southern oil-producing provinces of Basra, Thi Qaromisan and Wasit are also demanding $ 5 per barrel of oil produced.

The total value of the general budget of Iraq for the year 2018 amounted to about 85.33 trillion dinars (71.65 billion dollars) deficit of 22.78 trillion dinars (19.13 billion dollars).

The documents of the draft budget law on reducing the share of the Kurdistan region of the total budget from 17% to 12.67%, allocated for current expenditures and investment projects in the provinces of the region.

The budget included a price of 43.4 dollars per barrel of oil, with a capacity of 3.89 million barrels to top oil revenues and mineral wealth revenues close to 73 trillion Iraqi dinars (70 billion dollars).

Abbadi had previously described the budget of 2018 as an austerity directed to reduce government expenditures for presidencies and ministries and to secure wages and salaries of state employees.

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