Higher oil prices have swollen earnings from petroleum by 65 percent and this source accounts for 93.6 percent of the country's budgeted income for next year, the government said in a statement.

Iraq plans capital spending of 18.6 billion dollars, up 43 percent, while recurring expenditure is forecast at 60 billion dollars, an increase of 63 percent from 2008, the statement said.

The government gave no details of expected revenue for next year, but said the projected fiscal deficit for 2009 was about 16 billion dollars. It was not immediately clear how the government proposed to bridge the deficit.

Washington said last month that Iraq was amassing a very large budget surplus as oil export revenues are soaring and it was spending little on reconstruction.

The US Government Accounting Office said the country had amassed a surplus of up to 79.3 billion dollars out of revenues of up to 182.2 billion dollars since 2005.

Little of that money was going to maintaining and rebuilding key civil infrastructure, according to the GAO report in August.

Over 2005-2007, the government spent only one percent of total expenditures to maintain Iraqi and US-funded investments such as buildings, water and electricity installations, and weapons, the US financial watchdog said.

The report noted that since March 2003, when the US forces invaded the country, Washington had budgeted 48 billion dollars for stabilization and rebuilding efforts in Iraq, and had committed about 42 billion dollars of that by June 2008.

© Morocco Times 2008

 

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