Details of the “pseudo-agreement” between Baghdad and Erbil on the 2023 budget

According to Fars News Agency International Group, a Kurdish source informed today (Thursday, January 12) that a “quasi-agreement” was reached between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the 2023 budget during the visit of Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to Baghdad yesterday. and meeting with the president, prime minister and head of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Federal Government of Iraq.

In an interview with “Baghdad Al-Iyoum” website, he stated: “If the Kurdistan Region delivers 250,000 barrels of oil with the income of the border crossings, it will receive 12.67 percent of the financial budget income.”

On Wednesday (yesterday, January 11), Masrour Barzani met and talked with President Abdul Latif Rashid, Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, and Faiq al-Zaidan, head of the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq, during his trip to Baghdad.

After the meeting between Barzani and Al-Sudani, the government of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq released a statement explaining that the two sides emphasized the importance of solving the problems between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government based on the constitution and ministerial framework.

According to this statement, the consultations were mainly about preparations and preparations related to the draft of the federal budget law for 2023 and the details related to the Kurdistan region’s share and financial rights from the federal budget. They also discussed the implementation of Article 140 of the Constitution and the guarantee of constitutional rights for Peshmerga forces as part of the defense system of the federal government of Iraq, as well as the implementation of the Sinjar Agreement.

Iraq is the second largest oil exporter in the “OPEC” organization and sells about 3.5 million barrels of oil daily. This amount provides about 90% of the budget of the Iraqi government.

But on the other hand, the Iraqi Kurdistan region sells 400,000 barrels of oil per day and has pledged to give 250,000 barrels of oil per day to the central government in Baghdad in exchange for the salaries of Kurdish officials and Peshmerga forces.

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