Legislation would provide less than one-third of the emergency funding requested by the Cabinet, and could be further delayed by Erbil-Baghdad disputes.

If the Parliament does not pass a new stop-gap financing law, the government says it cannot fund basic expenses including civil servant salaries.

Cabinet considers new borrowing legislation to fund massive deficits after political headwinds stopped attempts to pass a full 2020 budget.

When Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office, the U.S. granted Iraq a relatively long 120-day Iran sanctions waiver. That diplomatic honeymoon could be ending.

As a new member of the COVAX facility, Iraq secures access to future vaccines — but in the meantime, other measures are needed to avoid a winter spike.