Why Iraqi Kurdistan Is Struggling to Pay Its Bills

Low global oil prices are wreaking havoc on Iraqi Kurdistan's finances. While the cash-strapped Kurdish government has managed to export oil independently of Baghdad since June 2015, it will become increasingly reliant on foreign support the longer oil prices remain depressed, regardless of how much control it has over its oil export revenue. The Kurdistan Regional Government will especially look to Turkey to keep oil exports and revenues flowing as it struggles to address both its own disintegration and the profound effect that the financial strain is having on the morale of the peshmerga fighting the Islamic State....