A record three-year budget released by Iraq recently is based on fixed exports and prices of crude oil as well as a stable dinar rate, new budget details showed on Tuesday.

The budget for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025 has set record allocations for development plans and infrastructure projects mainly in under-developed areas and those devastated by the war, showed the Finance Ministry budget report, which was published by Hathalyoum news agency.

The three-year budget is based on an average oil price of $70/barrel and crude exports of 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd), including nearly 400,000 bpd from the Northern autonomous Kurdistan region, according to the report.

It said the budget is based on oil revenue at a dinar rate of 1,300 to the US dollar, noting that the bulk of the state budget is reliant on oil sales.

“As a result, the budget faces great financial challenges as it envisages a deficit of nearly IQD64.3 billion ($49 billion), which is far higher than previous deficits,” it said.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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