MP Dilan Ghafoor: KRG Demands Not Yet Been Secured in Draft Budget
At a Glance
- KRG Demands Remain Unsecured: MP Dilan Ghafoor confirmed regional structural demands are not yet secured in the 2027 draft budget bill.
- Ghafoor emphasized a senior KRG delegation must immediately travel to Baghdad to finalize these budgetary agreements.
- The Iraqi Ministerial Council for the Economy approved the draft 2027 budget and forwarded it to the Cabinet.
Dilan Ghafoor, a member of the Iraqi Parliament's Finance Committee, stated that the Kurdistan Region's demands have not yet been secured in the 2027 draft budget bill.
Key Statements and Focus Area
- Lawmaker Dilan Ghafoor emphasized that it is imperative for a senior Kurdistan Regional Government delegation to travel to Baghdad to finalize these budgetary agreements.
- The Iraqi Ministerial Council for the Economy officially approved the draft 2027 federal budget and forwarded the bill to the Cabinet.
Speaking to Channel8 regarding the impending budget for next year, MP Ghafoor confirmed that the draft bill is currently undergoing Cabinet review and will soon be forwarded to Parliament for its initial readings, debates, and final voting.
Ghafoor stressed that before the bill is forwarded to the Council of Representatives, a delegation from the Kurdistan Region must reach a comprehensive understanding with Baghdad regarding its contents.
Channel8 has learned that the draft budget is estimated between 200 and 240 trillion Iraqi dinars, with the Kurdistan Region requesting nearly 29 trillion dinars.
However, the Kurdistan Region's share has been set at 12.70% instead of the 14.14% that reflects the Kurdistan Region’s population proportion from the latest census conducted in Iraq.
She further highlighted that Baghdad and Erbil must secure a comprehensive agreement on the oil file, crude allocations for domestic production, and the Kurdistan Region's exact financial entitlements to lock in these parameters before the bill reaches the parliamentary floor.
According to the lawmaker, Parliament cannot heavily alter the structural elements of the 2027 budget; lawmakers can primarily only defend the KRG's financial rights and established entitlements.
FYI
The 2027 Iraqi federal draft budget represents a critical tipping point in the protracted economic relationship between the federal government in Baghdad and the KRG in Erbil.
Following high-level sessions on September 28, 2026, the Ministerial Council for the Economy formally approved the 2027 draft budget framework and officially forwarded the legislation to Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi's Cabinet.
The primary friction point stems from the allocation percentage, as federal planners pegged the KRG's fixed share at 12.70% instead of the 14.14% demographic proportion supported by Erbil's provincial registry logs, creating an immediate multi-trillion dinar deficit for the region.
Furthermore, previous economic rounds throughout mid-2026 failed to resolve the integration of independent Kurdish oil revenues and the systematic allocation of crude oil intended for domestic production.
KRG negotiators have repeatedly protested that Erbil is forced to share the burden of massive international loans accrued by Baghdad without receiving its corresponding share of the principal capital.
Finally, the KRG's primary grievance centers on Baghdad's application of the Actual Expenditure mechanism, which calculates outlays based on actual ministry spending rather than projected operational allocations.
Kurdish leadership explicitly points out that this restrictive metric is uniquely weaponized to freeze public salary disbursements to Erbil's employees while central and southern governorates receive seamless monthly financial funding.
Speaking at the Sulaymaniyah Summit on September 18, Minister of Finance and Economy Awat Sheikh Janab demanded the 2027 Iraqi budget be prepared on the basis of justice.
He insisted that public sector employees, retirees, martyrs' families, and political prisoners in the Kurdistan Region receive the exact same treatment as their federal counterparts.
Janab stated that the Iraqi Cabinet must respect the Kurdistan Region's constitutional and federal status when addressing its financial demands. Furthermore, he emphasized that all Kurdish political parties must maintain a unified stance to successfully secure the region's entitlements in the upcoming budget bill.
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