KRG and Baghdad locked over budget bill and oil exports

Monday, January 17th 2011 1:00 PM
Baghdad, Jan. 17 (AKnews) - Kurdish leaders in Baghdad are locked with the Iraqi authorities over 2011 budget bill which contains a provision that links the region's share in the budget to its oil exports.

According to the budget bill passage, the Kurdish region has to export 150,000 bdp to maintain its 17% of the general budget. KRG says the figure exceeds the capacity of the region which is currently 100,000 bdp and pushes for eliminating or reducing the figure to 100,000 bpd.

A leader in State of Law Coalition (SLC) led by the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the issue of Kurdistan's Region's oil exports is not a political issue but a technical one.

"The federal budget project is in the custody of the parliament which has the authority to take the necessary procedures, and the budget cannot be returned to the government again." al-Asadi said.

"The exports is determined by the technical authorities not political parties" says Khaled al-Asadi. Iraqi authorities say the have based the 150,000 bpd on a statement by KRG Minister of Natural Resources who said Kurdistan could export 200,000 bpd soon.

KRG Premier Barham Ahemd Saleh visited Baghdad Saturday to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki o talk about about the issues between Baghdad and Erbil, including the oil issue and the budget.

The Iraqi parliament gave a first reading, after twice postponed earlier, to the 2011 budget bill Saturday amid the reservation of the Kurdish MPs on some points of the draft law, in particular, the passage that links share of Kurdistan with its oil exports.

Reported by Raman Brosk
Rn/Ry/AKnews

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/211123/