Iraq’s cabinet approved a smaller 2015 spending plan than the government expected because of the collapse in oil, which provides most government revenue. The budget, based on a $60 a barrel price for oil, stands at 123 trillion dinars ($103 billion), Saad Al-Hadithi, spokesman for the office of the prime minister, said by phone. The budget deficit was set at 23 trillion dinars and total revenue at 99.8 trillion dinars, including oil revenue of 84 trillion dinars, Obaid Mahal, deputy secretary general of the cabinet, said by phone. The 2015 budget had initially been set at 141 trillion dinars, and was 138.4 trillion dinars in 2013. “The reason behind the cut in the budget is because of the oil price drop, and curbing unnecessary spending,” Mudher Mohammed Saleh, economic adviser to Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, said by phone. Iraq, home to the world’s fifth-largest crude reserves, is engulfed in […]