Iraq’s parliament approves a vastly expanded state budget for 2019, after weeks of wrangling over how to apportion revenue among the country’s regions damaged by the war against the Islamic State group.
The new budget, at 133 trillion Iraqi dinars ($112 billion), represents a 27 percent increase in spending over the previous year, to be paid in part by higher projected oil prices and a slight bump in oil exports.
It forecasts oil exports from OPEC’s second leading oil producer to average 3.88 million barrels per day, at $56 per barrel, up from 3.8 million barrels at $46 per day in 2018.
Still, the budget projects a $23 billion deficit in 2019.
Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s government still needs to ratify the bill, which includes several amendments to the budget proposal it submitted last year.
— AP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
