Iraq expects to accomplish budget of 2014 within two weeks

The most controversial point of the next year's budget is the financial dues of Kurdistan Region after the federal government sought to reduce the ratio to 10 % instead of 17% compensation for financial losses after the region stopped export oil.

“The committee in charge of following up federal budgets’ file did not finish its missions yet,” The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Safaa al-Deen al-Safi told “Shafaq News “.

Safi predicted “the federal budget to be accomplished and submitted to the Council of Ministers within next two weeks.”

The Ministry of Finance said last month that a sub-committee of the Council of Ministers began discussions on the federal budget for 2014 before submitting it to the Council of Ministers for discussion and approval.

According to estimated preliminary figures, the size of the federal budget for next year is 176.5 trillion dinars, which is the largest in the history of Iraq that has paid most attention on energy, security and services files.

Kurdistan had stopped pumping oil to the Iraqi government line late last year because of disagreements over payments to foreign companies operating in the region.

Kurdistan demands of about four billion dollars as dues of oil companies that are developing fields in the region, but Baghdad refuses to pay.

Kurdish MPs in the Iraqi Parliament had boycotted the voting session on the budget in 2013 in protest against the non-inclusion of dues of the oil companies under the terms of the budget.

The region tends to export its oil to world markets via Turkey, despite opposition from Baghdad.