Iraq's parliament unveiled a 2021 budget on Thursday that foresees a deficit of around $20 billion, as it struggles with a financial and economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The government forecasts revenues of $69.9 billion based on oil exports of 3.25 million barrels per day.

The budget set a barrel of oil at $45, well below the market price of $60.

Iraq last approved a budget in 2019, but the following year it failed to adopt a budget as it faced nationwide protests and a change of government.

War-scarred Iraq is the second biggest crude producer in the OPEC oil cartel, but it has been wrestling with mounting financial and economic woes.

The Iraqi dinar has lost around 25 percent of its value within weeks, in a country where job losses and poverty are on the rise.

According to the World Bank, the level of poverty doubled in 2020 and 40 percent of the country's 40 million people are now considered "poor".

The Iraqi economy, one of the world's most oil-dependent, according to the World Bank, saw its gross domestic product contract by about 10 percent this year.

The 2021 budget forecast that 80 percent of state revenues will rely on oil sales, including 250,000 bpd produced in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

The budget also estimated investments at $19.6 billion compared to $27.8 billion in 2019, when the deficit stood at $23.1 billion.

Lebanon to swap medical expertise for Iraqi oil
Beirut (AFP) April 2, 2021 - Officials from Beirut and Baghdad signed a preliminary agreement Friday that would see Lebanon trade its medical expertise for Iraqi fuel supplies, Lebanese state media reported.

Lebanon's state-run electricity company faces dire cash shortages as the country grapples with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Oil-rich Iraq, which has seen Covid-19 cases soar in recent weeks, suffers from a chronic lack of drugs and medical care, and decades of war and poor investment have left its hospitals in bad shape.

Caretaker health minister Hamad Hassan and his Iraqi counterpart Hassan al-Tamimi signed "a framework agreement... that includes (the supply of) oil in exchange for medical and hospital services," Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said.

Under the accord, inked in Beirut, Lebanon would receive 500,000 tonnes of Iraqi oil annually, or a sixth of its needs, caretaker Lebanese energy minister Raymond Ghajar told AFP.

Hassan said the agreement included cooperation in training and hospital administration, with Lebanese experts and specialised teams to be involved in managing new facilities in Iraq.

Lebanon was once dubbed "the hospital of the Arab world", with advanced private facilities and doctors trained in Europe and the United States.

But hundreds of medics are now fleeing the country's political and economic crises and even basic medication has gone out of stock.

Power cuts have been common in the country for decades, but Ghajar warned in March that Lebanon would plunge into "total darkness" by the end of the month if no money was secured to buy fuel for power stations.

Lebanon's parliament this week approved $200 million in emergency funding to keep the lights on.

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US extends Iraq's sanction waiver ahead of talks
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