$60 oil threshold: Iraq's budget could be limited to salaries
Shafaq News/ Iraq could face a severe financial crisis if oil prices drop below $60 a barrel, limiting the government's ability to fund anything beyond operational expenses, a member of the parliamentary finance committee warned.
Jamal Kocher told Shafaq News on Thursday that Iraq's operating budget stands at 90T IQD ($68.5B), and any significant drop in oil revenues without compensating output would push the country into a difficult economic situation.
'In such a scenario, the government would only be able to cover operational expenditures, including public salaries,' Kocher said, adding that declining oil prices are already complicating the government's efforts to submit the 2025 budget to parliament.
Yesterday, a cabinet source told Shafaq News that the Iraqi government is considering canceling the 2025 budget altogether due to falling oil prices, which have widened the country's projected deficit.
On April 16, the committee had warned of the risks of not adjusting Iraq's assumed oil price in the budget, initially set at $70 per barrel. Kocher noted that when the budget law was passed, market prices were above that benchmark.
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