At a Glance

• Iraq postponed its cabinet budget meeting.

• Several clauses will be amended before submission to parliament.

• Article 10 is specifically dedicated to the Kurdistan Region.

• Baghdad is prepared to raise Kurdistan's budget share over 13%.

Dr. Farhad Alaaldin, advisor to the Iraqi Council of Ministers, informed Channel8 that the cabinet's scheduled Saturday meeting has been postponed to Tuesday, November 10, to discuss the 2027 draft budget.

Key Statements and Focus Area

• Several clauses of the draft bill are scheduled for amendment before it is forwarded to the Council of Representatives.

• The entire draft law consists of 31 articles, with Article 10 specifically dedicated to the Kurdistan Region.

• The 12 trillion dinars of debt requested in Article 10 of the draft budget will be removed.

Channel8 has learned that Baghdad is prepared to increase the Kurdistan Region's budget share to over 13 percent.

Baghdad has also expressed readiness to waive its demands for natural gas from the Kurdistan Region, deferring the matter to the 2028 budget cycle.

In return for these concessions, the federal government is demanding 445,000 barrels of oil per day from the region.

However, Kurdish authorities maintain that the Region's current production capacity stands at 260,000 barrels of oil per day.

FYI

The Iraqi Ministry of Finance has submitted the 2027 draft budget to the Council of Ministers, projecting a total expenditure of 217 trillion dinars against 174 trillion dinars in revenues, leaving an estimated deficit of 43 trillion dinars.

Article 10 of Iraq’s draft 2027 budget defines financial relations by setting the Kurdistan Region’s nominal allocation at 12.7% of total actual expenditures, though heavy sovereign deductions reduce the net effective share to roughly 6.1%.

Kurdish officials criticize this framework, arguing that the calculations ignore actual payroll obligations, rely on an unconstitutional population baseline rather than the recent 14.14% census data, and tie funding to an unrealistic daily oil production quota of 445,000 barrels.

Channel8 reported earlier that Kurdish negotiators proposed securing a stable 13% budget allocation by linking the Region's share directly to the national food ration card system.

Dive Deeper: Handpicked Stories for You

Follow Channel8 for continuous updates:

Baghdad Offers Budget Flexibility But Maintains Strict Oil Redlines

Baghdad to Receive New Kurdistan Region Budget Proposal

Kurdistan Region Pushes to Secure Political Prisoner Stipends in 2027 Iraqi Budget