Iraq parliament speaker, finance minister discuss 2027 budget preparation

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibat Al-Halbousi met Finance Minister Falih Al-Sari on Wednesday to discuss mechanisms for preparing the 2027 federal general budget bill.  The Parliament speaker’s media office said in a statement that the meeting also addressed several matters related to the Finance Ministry’s work.

Iraq has no 2026 budget, with parliament skipping the year to concentrate on 2027 and spending governed by the one-twelfth rule, and parliament is due to give a first reading to a law on grants and borrowing.

Iraq’s last budget law covered 2023, 2024 and 2025 and expired at the end of last year. Finance Minister Falih Sari told his budget department earlier this month to speed up work on a program and performance-based budget.

The government confirmed in late July that Iraq is in a fiscal crisis and that salaries would no longer follow their previous schedule. July pay went out in stages from July 28. Iraq exported 32.1 million barrels of crude and condensates in May and June for about $2.34 billion, roughly $1.17 billion a month — about 526,000 barrels a day against roughly 3.3 million before the war. Oil provides more than 90% of federal revenue.