Baghdad sends 615 billion dinars to Iraqi Kurdistan to pay employees’ salaries
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, and the President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Nechervan Barzani. Photo: INA
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A government source reported on Sunday that the federal government in Baghdad sent 615 billion dinars to secure the salaries of employees in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The source told Shafaq News that the Iraqi cabinet decided during its session held on Sunday to send 615 billion dinars (approximately $2 billion) to secure the salaries of employees in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The step follows discussions held by the President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Nechervan Barzani, with officials in Baghdad regarding the budget and salaries of employees in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The federal government in Baghdad decided on Sunday to send part of the region’s budget.
Barzani arrived on Saturday in the capital, Baghdad, to participate in an event commemorating the assassination of Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic scholar and the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq who was assassinated in 2003.
The President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq called on the political forces and parties to play their role in solving the salary issue and the region’s share of the federal financial budget.
Barzani also emphasized that people in Iraqi Kurdistan are living in bad conditions because of the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad.
Iraq’s general budget law, which was approved by the Iraqi Parliament earlier in 2023, stipulates that the Kurdistan region of Iraq is obligated to hand over its revenues to the state in exchange for the commitment of the federal Ministry of Finance to pay for Iraqi Kurdistan’s dues every month.
The agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan region of Iraq has not been fully implemented, leading to issues with the salaries of employees in the KRG.
The second issue that the two parties did not agree on is the discrepancy in the cost of oil production between companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan and the ones operating in the rest of the Iraqi governorates.
The federal general budget law 2023-2025 sets the cost of producing and transporting each barrel of oil at $6.9, while data from the Ministry of Natural Resources in the KRG shows that the cost of oil production in Iraqi Kurdistan is $32.91.