ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Iraqi parliament is set to hold the first reading of the country’s 2027 budget law “next week,” a member of the parliament’s finance committee told state media on Friday, adding that there is an agreement on the matter between the committee and Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

“During its visit to the Prime Minister, the committee agreed on many issues, including the agreement to send the 2027 budget,” said MP Ekhlas al-Dulaimi.

“The Ministry of Finance is directly [involved] in the preparation of the 2027 budget, and prepared the budget strategy and involved the finance committee and a number of ministries and representatives of the [Kurdistan Region], to send it to the committee,” she added.

Iraq passed its three-year budget law for 2023, 2024, and 2025 after months of wrangling in June 2023.

Dulaimi told The New Region in July that the government will not set a budget for 2026 and will work on determining how much is needed for salaries and other expenses. She said at the time that they will work on the 2027 budget in October.

Iraq’s 2026 budget law has faced major delays, partly owing to the regional conflict and the ensuing financial turmoil due to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has significantly affected Iraq’s ability to balance and set the budget and pay public sector salaries.

Dulaimi noted that “according to the Financial Management Law, the budget must reach parliament by the 10th to 15th of this month for approval for the coming year.”

The parliamentary finance committee in July completed a draft for a domestic and foreign borrowing bill, in light of the financial crisis. Financial advisor to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Mudher Mohammed Salih, said the draft is a “temporary measure” to keep state institutions afloat until the general budget is approved.