Amid battle with IS, Iraq parliament approves next budget
Dec 16,
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's parliament has approved next year's budget of nearly 106 trillion Iraqi dinars, or about $89.7 billion.

Like other oil-reliant countries, Iraq's economy has suffered due to plummeting oil prices. The country is also plagued with a costly war against Islamic State group, which controls a third of the country.

The budget, approved on Wednesday, will run with a deficit of over 24 trillion dinars (about $20.5 billion) that are planned to be relieved through loans from local and international lenders.

The budget calculations are based on an assumed oil price of $45 a barrel, with an average daily crude oil output of 3.6 million barrels.

Iraq holds the world's fourth largest oil reserves - 143.1 billion barrels - and oil revenues make up nearly 95 percent of its budget.

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