Iraqi approves 2013 budget bill

The Iraqi lawmakers endorsed Thursday a bill of the country's 2013 federal budget that exceeded 118 billion U.S. dollars despite the withdrawal of the Kurdish lawmakers and part of lawmakers of the Sunni-backed Iraqia bloc, an Iraqi official television reported. "The parliament approved the proposed budget of 2013 after the majority of the 168 lawmakers attending the Thursday session voted in all the budget items," the state-run al-Iraqia channel said. The budget was based on an average oil price of 90 dollars per barrel and export of 2.9 million barrels of crude oil per day, since roughly 95 percent of the country's budget comes from oil revenue. The approval of the budget was held up for months by the Iraqi political factions over profound disputes, including the controversial point of Kurds' demand to allocate about 4 billion dollars as payments for the foreign oil companies working in Kurdistan autonomous region. The parliament approved the allocation of 750 million dollars for the oil companies in Kurdistan, but such allocation was already rejected by the Kurdish lawmakers who walked out of the parliament sessions. Some members of the Sunni-backed Iraqia bloc, headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, also walked out of the parliament session because they demanded to reduce the allocations of defense ministry and the ministerial council office, which they believed were exaggerated. The budget is still needed to be approved by the presidency office. If proved, the budget will be the biggest in Iraq since the establishment of the first government of modern Iraq in 1921. The Iraqi budget of 2012 valued 100 billion dollars based on the average oil price of 85 dollars per barrel and 2.6 million bpd in crude exports.