The Iraqi Parliament on late Thursday started voting on the most-anticipated budget for this year amid deep disagreements, mainly over the semi-autonomous Kurdish Region's share and its financial commitments.
The budget, at 198.91 trillion Iraqi dinars ($153 billion), is the largest proposed amount in Iraqi history. It runs with a deficit of 64.36 trillion dinars.
Since March, when the Cabinet approved a draft budget law and sent to the legislative body for final endorsement, it has been subject to intense negotiations and discussions among political factions.
Some Shiite politicians and Kurdish parties have been pushing for amendments to the draft budget to strengthen Baghdad's control of the Kurdistan region’s oil industry and revenue that are in the hands of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
The KDP has traditionally had the most control over the Kurdish region's energy sector. It has strongly objected to changes to the draft, delaying the approval.
Among these amendments that are still rejected by KDP are cutting off the region's share from the budget, which is 12.6 per cent, if it failed to submit produced oil to Baghdad, and forcing the region to pay back 10 per cent of employees' salaries withheld in previous years.
To allow political parties to reach agreement on the contentious points, the Parliament only approved seven articles of 67, according to a statement. It will continue voting on the rest on Friday.
The budget calculations are based on an assumed oil price of $70 a barrel, with an average daily crude oil output of 3.5 million barrels, including 400,000 from the Kurdistan region.
The operational expenditure stands at 133.22 trillion dinars while investment expenditure will be 49.35 trillion dinars.
The government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani is planning to repeat it in 2024 and 2025.
Iraq’s fiscal year usually starts on January 1.
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MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: Health-tech
Size: 22 employees
Funding: Seed funding
Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Ten10 Cricket League
Venue and schedule Sharjah Cricket Stadium, December 14 to 17
Teams
Maratha Arabians Leading player: Virender Sehwag; Top picks: Mohammed Amir, Imad Wasim; UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Zahoor Khan
Bengal Lions Leading player: Sarfraz Ahmed; Top picks: Sunil Narine, Mustafizur Rahman; UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Rameez Shahzad
Kerala Kings Leading player: Eoin Morgan; Top picks: Kieron Pollard, Sohail Tanvir; UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Imran Haider
Pakhtoons Leading player: Shahid Afridi; Top picks: Fakhar Zaman, Tamim Iqbal; UAE players: Amjad Javed, Saqlain Haider
Punjabi Legends Leading player: Shoaib Malik; Top picks: Hasan Ali, Chris Jordan; UAE players: Ghulam Shabber, Shareef Asadullah
Team Sri Lanka Cricket Will be made up of Colombo players who won island’s domestic limited-overs competition
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
