The Transport Ministry is still in the process of deciding which projects to prioritise with its available funding.

However, one that is likely to gain support is the extension of the western railway from Baghdad to Al-Anar province, linking critical industrial sites to the capital.

Iraq recently reopened the first passenger rail services for five years between Baghdad and Falluja. That line will now be extended west.

Baghdad cut the size of this year's budget in January in the wake of the fall in oil prices. Projected government spending for the year is now $62bn, down from the previous figure of $67bn. This was itself a cut from the $80bn originally put forward last July, before the global economic crisis took hold and oil prices plummeted.