ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq and the Kurdistan Region remain at a stalemate over stipulations for the autonomous region’s share in the federal budget bill, which politicians say will be put for a vote in parliament on Monday. "The Kurds, Sunni and Shiite parties are against the passage of the budget bill without reaching an agreement with the Kurds," Jamal Kochar, a member of Iraqi Parliamentary Finance Committee told Rudaw, adding that anyone that agrees to pass the bill without reaching an agreement wants to see Kadhimi's government "fail". "The Shiite politicians are an important factor in the passing of the budget bill and not having a united approach is why we are facing issues on reaching an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government," said Dana Muhammad Jaza, a member of Iraqi Parliament. Budget disputes have been a source of long–standing tension between Erbil and Baghdad. A Kurdistan Regional Government delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani, has visited Baghdad multiple times to discuss and deal on the 2021 federal budget upon which the region is dependent for its funds. The Kurdistan Region's independent oil sales have been subject to intense criticism in Iraqi parliament, with some suggesting that the Region should hand over all its oil or revenue from the resource to the federal government. Finance committee member Thamer Theban told state media outlet Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Saturday that the 2021 budget bill will go ahead on Monday whether an agreement with the Region is reached or not. The deficit in the current year's budget is 28.6 trillion dinars, so more than $19 billion is needed to break even, noted Majda al-Tamimi, another finance committee member. The possibility of changing the prices of oil barrels in the 2021 budget bill has been discussed earlier, explained Tamimi.
