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2018 budget faces opposition, delays

Kurdish, Sunni and Basrawi MPs are the most vocal critics of the draft budget, claiming inadequate revenue sharing despite slightly increased overall spending.
Members of Parliament gather to vote on Iraq's new government in Baghdad on Sept. 8, 2014. (THAIER AL-SUDANI/Reuters)

BAGHDAD - Iraq's Cabinet has sent a 2018 draft budget to the Parliament, where legislators say they will struggle to pass it before the end of the year.

The draft calls for $88 billion* in government spending, a slight increase over 2017, and anticipates higher oil revenues, based on a projected 3.888 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports and an average oil price of $46 per barrel.**

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