IOC payments drive Iraq’s July budget deficit

According to the Ministry of Finance’s latest monthly report, Iraq recorded a budget deficit of 10.5 trillion IQD in July, driven primarily by large payments to international oil companies (IOCs) under the licensing round contracts.

The government disbursed about 8.5 trillion IQD in compensation to the IOCs during the month, compared to a total of 11 trillion IQD paid across all of 2024. At the same time, Iraq collected around 855 million IQD in taxes from the IOCs during the first seven months of 2025, reflecting a partial offset of these substantial expenditure obligations.