Nechirvan Barzani, Iraqi Kurdistan region president, Erbil, April 2020. Photo: Presidency
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Calling Baghdad’s recent move to freeze budget transfers to Erbil unconstitutional and illegal, Iraqi Kurdistan region President Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday asked the head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq to help mediate the dispute.
The remarks came after a meeting in Erbil between Barzani and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
Barzani said that the Kurdistan Region’s share of the federal budget should not be turned into a political matter.
On April 16, the federal Council of Ministers froze budget transfers to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) after patience ran out with Erbil’s failure to live up to its obligations under the 2019 federal budget law, in particular its refusal to send oil to Baghdad for export.
The KRG’s cash flow had already been greatly reduced because of the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the precipitous drop in oil prices, but Baghdad’s move puts Erbil in a significant bind and may mean that it is unable to pay its large public sector.
Even before the budget freeze, the KRG appeared to be in tight financial straights. Government workers have been complaining for several weeks that they have not been paid, which was initially attributed to disruptions caused by the coronavirus curfew.
Reaction to those delays appears to be gathering steam. On Monday, doctors and health care workers at hospitals across Sulaimani and Halabja governorates went on strike, saying that they have not been paid for more than 50 days.
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