Row over Kurds’ share of Iraq’s oil revenues
By Mustafa al-Hashemi
Azzaman, December 16, 2009
Iraqi Kurds insist on snatching a larger piece of Iraq’s oil revenue pie than their fair share, a source at the finance ministry said.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while the population of the Kurdish self-rule area was 12% of Iraq’s total population, Kurdish leaders persist on having 17% of Iraqi oil revenues.
The difference emerged as the ministry is proceeding ahead with 2010 budget allocations.
The Kurds have agreed to have 43 representatives in Iraq’s national parliament under the new election law, which in reality means the number of people in their self-rule areas makes 12% of total Iraqi population.
Each parliamentary deputy stands for 100,000 people
But the Kurds say they will not agree to any sum of allocations that is short of 17% of national revenues.
Statistics about population are hard to verify in Iraq as there has been no reliable counts for years.
A census is scheduled for 2010 but most probably difference over the exclusion or inclusion of certain areas in the Kurdish self-rule might still not be solved.
There is also the thorny issue of the oil-rich Province of Kirkuk which the Kurds claim as their own at a time other ethnic minorities dispute the claim.
The massive allocations to the Kurdish region and its relative stability have lead to a flurry of construction and development across the region.
By Mustafa al-Hashemi
Azzaman, December 16, 2009
Iraqi Kurds insist on snatching a larger piece of Iraq’s oil revenue pie than their fair share, a source at the finance ministry said.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while the population of the Kurdish self-rule area was 12% of Iraq’s total population, Kurdish leaders persist on having 17% of Iraqi oil revenues.
The difference emerged as the ministry is proceeding ahead with 2010 budget allocations.
The Kurds have agreed to have 43 representatives in Iraq’s national parliament under the new election law, which in reality means the number of people in their self-rule areas makes 12% of total Iraqi population.
Each parliamentary deputy stands for 100,000 people
But the Kurds say they will not agree to any sum of allocations that is short of 17% of national revenues.
Statistics about population are hard to verify in Iraq as there has been no reliable counts for years.
A census is scheduled for 2010 but most probably difference over the exclusion or inclusion of certain areas in the Kurdish self-rule might still not be solved.
There is also the thorny issue of the oil-rich Province of Kirkuk which the Kurds claim as their own at a time other ethnic minorities dispute the claim.
The massive allocations to the Kurdish region and its relative stability have lead to a flurry of construction and development across the region.
