Iraq has a set its 2012 budget on an average oil price of $95 a barrel, despite recommendations from a parliamentary committee to consider a lower price.

The finance committee advised the cabinet, known as the Council of Representatives, to consider a price of $75 a barrel, warning that a drop in oil prices from the current levels of just over $100 a barrel could impact Iraq’s plans.

“We don’t expect the oil price to fall below $90 [a barrel],” says Salam al-Quraishi, a government economic adviser, AK news agency reports.

Iraq is planning a $112bn budget for 2012, significantly higher than this year’s $82.6bn budget. According to Al-Quraishi, parliament will approve the budget plan in the first week of December, before being transferred to the Council of Representatives for final approval.

The government estimates that 89 per cent of its of 2011 revenue would come from oil exports, which now stands at more than $69bn after 10 months, compared with $52.2bn in the whole of 2010 (MEED 23:11:11).