BASRA UNIVERSITY ORGANIZES A SEMINAR ON OIL REVENUES AND THE REALITY OF THE PLANNED DEFICIT FOR 2018:
The University of Basra organized a scientific symposium on oil revenues and the reality of the planned 2018 budget, with the participation of researchers and specialists.
The seminar included a lecture presented by Dr. Yosef Ali Al-Asadi and Dr. Sami Hashim Al-Saadi during which they discussed what the Ministry of Oil indicated through its official website that Iraq has achieved revenues estimated at more than (72) billion dollars during the past ten months, at an export rate of (3,484) million barrels per day. The export price per barrel is estimated at (70.27) dollars, which means that the oil revenues achieved during the year 2018 will exceed the expected revenues in the budget by more than (20) billion dollars.
The seminar also showed the expenditure side through the Ministry of Finance data that what has been achieved during the first seven months of 2018 is only 38.4% of the total public spending, and it is expected that 66% of the spending will be achieved by the end of this year.
Thus, the researchers concluded that the 2018 budget will achieve a large surplus, contrary to what is expected, with an estimated deficit of (22) trillion Iraqi dinars.
