Jabouri said during a press conference that the parliament is committed to approving the budget bill with all the Iraqi components.

The budget bill, however, has not met the “legal and constitutional requirements,” Jabouri added.

“The amended budget bill does not include a response to the demands of those who object to it,” he continued, saying the central government submitted the 2018 budget late.

Jabouri said on Sunday that the government had provided the parliament with the revised version of the country’s 2018 budget bill to be presented during a session next Sunday.

The Iraqi parliament held a session on February 5 to vote on the 2018 federal budget bill.

The Kurdish lawmakers prevented the bill from passing after they stood in front of the presidency’s podium to stop the financial committee of the Iraqi parliament from reading a report on the federal budget bill. The parliament postponed the session to Sunday.

Iraq’s Council of Ministers had completed and circulated the Iraqi federal 2018 budget bill in October.

In early November 2017, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers challenged the bill on a number of points. Kurds are concerned over the draft bill, saying there is an imbalance in the distribution of the budget over all of the Iraqi provinces.

Reporter’s code: 50101