KRG Official Holds Meeting with Diplomats to Discuss Federal Budget Law

Shafaq News/ Minister Safeen Dizayee, the KRG’s head of the Department of Foreign Relations, met on Tuesday with representatives and consuls of various countries in the city of Erbil in the presence of Umed Sabah Othman, President of the Diwan of Council of Ministers, and Jutiar Adel, the spokesman for the Regional government.

The meeting focused on deliberating the draft federal budget law, specifically on the provisions about the Kurdistan Region share and the changes rejected by the Kurdistan authorities.

The participants stressed the necessity of addressing the concerns raised by the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding the proposed budget law.

The Iraqi Cabinet approved the country's largest financial budget on March 13, surpassing 197 trillion and 828 billion Iraqi dinars (approximately 152.2 billion dollars), with a deficit of 63 trillion. The budget heavily relies on the global rise in oil prices, which constitute over 95% of Iraq's financial revenue. However, objections from financial and legal experts have delayed the final approval of the budget amendments as disputes persist.

President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, expressed "deep concern" regarding changes that affected provisions related to the Region's constitutional rights in the Iraqi general budget law, firmly rejecting these alterations. Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also voiced dissatisfaction, noting that the amendments violated a prior agreement with Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani and his government. Emphasizing the significance of respecting the cooperation cornerstone between Erbil and Baghdad, Prime Minister Barzani called for adherence to the agreement by all parties involved.