(Adds background on supplementary budget)
BAGHDAD, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A committee reviewing Iraq's budget proposals for 2010 has recommended spending plans be based on average oil prices of $60 per barrel and average crude exports of 2.15 million barrels per day, a government spokesman said on Saturday.
Iraq's approved federal budget for 2009 of $58.6 billion was based on income from oil prices averaging $50 per barrel. It was cut three times after oil prices plunged from a high of almost $150 per barrel last year.
In July, the cabinet approved a supplementary budget of at least $3 billion as a result of an improvement in prices. The government derives more than 95 percent of its revenues from oil, which traded at around $72 per barrel this week.
Oil exports in July reached 2.037 million bpd, their highest level since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
The Middle Eastern country is the holder of the world's third largest proven crude reserves, but decades of war, sanctions and underinvestment have prevented it from significantly boosting output and exports.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the committee led by the finance minister had recommended that government ministries freeze operational expenses, such as on public sector payroll, at the same level as in 2009.
Additional revenues or savings will be allocated to the ministries' investment budgets under the proposals, Dabbagh said in a statement.
In addition, the committee recommended increasing non-oil revenues through customs duties and taxes, and cutting the cost of the federal government's massive food ration programme by limiting the virtually free supplies only to the needy. (Reporting by Khalid al-Ansary; Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Mike Peacock)