Kurdistan Oil and Gas Council discusses fuel supply and economy with parliamentary committee
The Prime Minister stressed that the government and the parliament should work together to better serve the people of Kurdistan and address problems facing the people of the Kurdistan Region, especially considering the current circumstances.
Minister of Finance and Economy outlines challenges facing Kurdistan
The Minister of Finance and Economy provided a summary of the economic situation in Kurdistan, pointing out that the decision by Baghdad to withhold the KRG budget has created many obstacles and economic problems for the government. This is particularly the case because income sources generated outside of the budget are limited. The government faces a challenge providing expenses, salaries for civil servants, and funding allocation for projects within the requisite time frames. This has in turn affected the tasks and the activities of government bodies.
The Minister pointed to the need for a comprehensive review of income and expenses in order to prioritise the allocation of funding for public sector salaries, the families of martyrs, and the provision of public services. The government has therefore implemented some necessary reviews. The Minister noted that the economic crisis has affected the government’s ability to provide subsidized fuel, but expected that this situation would improve with the resolution of the budget issue with Baghdad.
Minister of Natural Resources and parliamentary committee review subsidies and quality control
The Minister of Natural Resources presented a summary of subsidies that the government has thus far allocated for the provision of petrol, fuel for power plant stations, grants provided for strategic projects, factories, and industrial projects, and for business and tourism projects. He explained that the government has managed to continue to pay civil servants with income generated from other sources. He stressed that the government strategy is to provide subsidized natural gas, rather than gasoline, to power plant stations.
Members of the parliamentary Committee of Industry and Natural Resources restated that along with the Committee’s mandate to monitor the government, it continues to work closely with the government as a team to tackle the issues, especially the quality and the pricing of fuel. Both sides agreed to reconvene again soon, and the Ministry of Natural Resources will be tasked with preparing a mechanism to assure fuel quality from importation to consumption.
Government and parliament agree on next steps
The Committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, agreed to establish comprehensive guidelines for legal action and hold accountable any individual or company violating fuel quality regulations.
Separately, it was agreed to establish a coordination committee comprised of the parliament’s Committee on Industry and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. This committee would convene biweekly to address unresolved issues.
The government and the parliament agreed to jointly review the draft legislation for Kurdistan’s oil fund legislation as well as the establishment of the Kurdistan National Company for Oil Exploration and Production, both to be submitted to the Kurdistan Parliament.
Finally, all sides agreed that the issues with fuel supply have been caused by the current economic and security crisis, and will ease as the situation improves.
