Baghdad : The Iraqi government said on Sunday it had succeeded in reducing to 85 percent the country’s reliance on petroleum revenues which are the biggest portion of revenues calculated in the state budget, Iraqi News reported.

That is a drop from an estimated 95 percent of the general budget under former prime minister and incumbent Vice President Nuri al-Maliki, Cabinet spokesperson Saad al-Hadithi said in a statement.

According to the statement, the government has managed to reduce reliance on oil revenues and diminish their percentage in the general budget to 85 percent in return for the diversification of state resources and the activation of other economic sectors.

“Due to Iraq’s financial crisis, which is the result of unprecedentedly falling world oil prices, the government had to follow economic policies dictated by the crisis in order to meet its financial obligations to Iraqi forces, war on terror and seven million citizens receiving IQD4 trillion monthly in salaries from the state…as well as other important sectors such as education, health, electricity, basic services and response to refugee issues,” said Hadithi.

He pointed out that the government followed austerity policies and rationalization of government and public expenditure, and succeeded in reducing the level of public spending to 50-60 percent than it was in the past.

—AB/IINA