Iraq’s cabinet proposed a 96.6 trillion-dinar ($82.6 billion) spending plan for 2011, or 15.7 trillion dinars more than revenue, state minister Ali al-Dabbagh said.
The budget is larger than the 93 trillion-dinar spending plan proposed by the cabinet on Dec. 1 and later declined by parliament, because it was based on an oil price of $73 a barrel, Dabbagh said in a television interview on Iraqiya television. The new spending plan is based on an oil price of $76.50 a barrel, Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said in an e- mailed statement. Government revenue was put at 80.9 trillion dinars, Dabbagh said in the statement.
The revenue is based on exports of 2.2 million barrels of oil a day, including 100,000 barrels from the northern Kurdish region, he said. Crude oil futures in New York finished last week at $89.03 a barrel.
Iraq resumed exports of crude oil from Kurdistan Feb. 3, after ending a dispute over sales revenue with the semi- autonomous provincial government that had halted the shipments for more than a year. Iraq is seeking to boost oil revenue, which accounts for 95 percent of government revenue.
In the spending plan, which needs approval by parliament, 30 trillion dinars are planned for investment and 66.6 trillion for operational expenses, Dabbagh said.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki formally secured a second term in office Nov. 25 and announced his cabinet Dec. 21.
Iraq, home to the world’s fifth-biggest crude reserves, is seeking foreign investment and expertise to help boost energy exports and pay to rebuild an economy and infrastructure destroyed by conflict, economic sanctions and sabotage.
Iraq has awarded 15 contracts for oil and gas exploration licenses since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the regime of former President Saddam Hussein.
The country has official oil reserves of 143.1 billion barrels, excluding the northern region of Kurdistan, then Oil Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani said Oct. 4.
The 2010 budget of 84.7 trillion dinars was based on an oil price of $63.50 a barrel, and a deficit of 22.9 trillion.