Iraq Raises 2011 Budget To $81.86 Billion On Oil Price Hike

Iraq Raises 2011 Budget To $81.86 Billion On Oil Price Hike



By Hassan Hafidh, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Iraq raised its proposed 2011 budget to 96.6 trillion Iraq dinars ($81.86 billion), compared with last year's budget of $71.3 billion due to recent hike in oil prices, a government spokesman said Sunday.

Oil prices have spiked due to political protests and tensions in Egypt. Brent crude hit $100 a barrel for the first time since 2008 on fears instability could spread through the Middle East, which together with North Africa pumps over a third of the world's oil.

The Iraqi cabinet in an emergency meeting Sunday decided to raise its 2011 oil prices estimates to an average of $76.50 a barrel, instead of the $73 a barrel it proposed earlier, Ali Al Dabbagh said in a statement.

The budget estimates revenue from oil sales in 2011 to be IQD80.9 trillion ($ 68.5 billion), compared with a total of $52.2 billion the country earned from oil exports in 2010, said Dabbagh, who is also a minister of state.

-By Hassan Hafidh; Dow Jones Newswires; +962 799 831 831;hassan.hafidh@ dowjones.com