Iraq cuts budget due to falling oil prices

Iraq cut its 2015 budget Thursday by nearly $3 billion (2.7 billion euros) due to the falling price of oil, on which its government is almost entirely dependent for revenue. MPs approved a budget of $99.6 billion, down from the $102.5 billion the cabinet proposed last month. The projected oil price was also lowered from $60 to $56 a barrel, while the expected deficit rose from $19.1 billion to $21.1 billion.
The final vote came at the end of a lengthy parliamentary session in which MPs first approved individual articles and disputes arose over whether voting should take place by show of hands or electronically. But having a budget at all is an improvement over last year, when squabbling between Baghdad and the country's autonomous Kurdish region over oil and finances kept one from being passed. Iraq faces the dual challenges of falling oil prices and increased expenditures due to its battle against the Islamic State group, which overran large areas of the country last year.