ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Iraqi parliament is moving towards holding an emergency session next week to address the country’s worsening financial situation and secure public sector salaries, state media reported, with oil sales constrained due to tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iraq has been facing a worsening financial crisis since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz massively cutting off Iraq’s main source of income: oil exports.

The continuation of the war has sparked fears that the current measures the Iraqi government has implemented to make up for the decreased income cannot be seen as viable long-term solutions and that Baghdad will face difficulties paying civil servant salaries over the next few months.

“A number of members of parliament have submitted an official request to the speaker of the legislature to hold an emergency session,” Thaer al-Kaabi, a member of the parliamentary legal committee, told the state-owned al-Sabah newspaper on Thursday. 

At least 148 lawmakers have signed in favor of holding the session, according to Kaabi, stressing that “the current stage requires understanding the true state of the country’s economic conditions.” 

On Monday, Iraqi Finance Minister Falih al-Sari asked the parliament to allow him to appear before the lawmakers and discuss the financial challenges. 

Sari has submitted a formal request to parliament speaker Haibat al-Halbousi to appear before the next parliamentary session to “present the current financial and economic situation in the country and to outline the most significant challenges facing public finances in light of current regional developments,” according to a statement from the finance ministry.

“The purpose of the finance minister’s request to appear before parliament … is to put an end to the conflicting statements about the financial situation,” Jamal Kochar, a Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, told al-Sabah. 

The date for the anticipated session has yet to be finalized “but expectations indicate that it may be held next week,” Kochar added. 

Iraq pocketed $2.3 billion from oil exports for the months of May and June combined. The country needs over $5.3 billion for monthly salaries alone.

In mid-July, the Iraqi parliament’s finance committee said it has completed a draft for a domestic and foreign borrowing bill to curb the economic crisis.

In a televised interview in June, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said that Baghdad has resorted to printing cash 25 percent more than its actual financial capacity amid a drop in revenues due to the Iran war, warning that a financial catastrophe awaits Iraq if the conflict continues until the end of the year.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reportedly pumped around 43 trillion dinars (~$32.8 billion) into the market by printing more banknotes, reaching into its reserves, and retrieving embezzled funds.