Iraq budget based on $90 Brent oil price

BAGHDAD: Iraq?s cabinet approved a 2013 draft budget of 138 trillion Iraqi dinars ($118.6 billion) based on a world oil price of $90 a barrel and expected oil exports of 2.9 million barrels per day (BPD), Iraqi officials said.
Iraq has the world?s fourth-largest oil reserves and depends on oil revenues to fund 95 percent of its national budget.
?The cabinet approved the 2013 budget with 138 trillion dinars and it will send it to parliament for final approval,? said Ali Al-Moussawi, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki?s media adviser.
The projected oil exports include 250,000 BPD from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, and federal revenues of $102 billion, government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
The budget deficit will be estimated at 18.8 trillion dinars ($16.17 billion), he said.
That will be covered by unused funds from the 2012 budget, funds in the Development Fund of Iraq (DFI) account at the New York Federal Reserve, local debt issued through treasury bonds, or from an expected surplus from higher oil prices.
Since parliament only approved the 2012 budget of $100 billion in February, many government offices have not spent their allocations.
The DFI was established after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq in order to direct oil revenues to reconstruction and food programs for Iraqis. Iraq holds the bulk of proceeds from its oil export sales in the DFI.
Oil prices were at $108 a barrel yesterday.
The $118.6 billion budget included 55 trillion Iraqi dinars ($47.29 billion) for investment projects.
OPEC-member Iraq exported an average of 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, the highest total crude exports in decades, and aims to boost shipments to above 2.8 million bpd this month.
It also aims to double its output over the next three years after decades of neglect of infrastructure due to war and economic sanctions.

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/node/428607

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