Kurdistan Finance Ministry: Promised salary funds from Baghdad face new implementation hurdles
Shafaq News/ The Ministry of Finance and Economy in theKurdistan Region announced, on Thursday, that the federal government is notready to send the region's financial entitlements.
In a statement, the ministry said, "In recent months,the Ministry of Finance has resolved all obstacles and technical issues relatedto the payroll list, and the ministry’s technical teams have maintainedconstant contact with the technical team of the Iraqi Ministry ofFinance."
Regarding the talks between the Kurdish and the Iraqi ministriesof finance, the statement revealed that in the recent meeting between thedelegations held in Baghdad, the Iraqi Minister of Finance promised to finalizethe funding for December and allocate the required amount for November.
The ministry further stated that while the budget lawincludes several allocations that legally allow the Kurdish government to maketransfers to cover salary deficits, new problems have emerged in implementingthis provision.
“This comes despite multiple decisions to allocate 430billion IQD (approximately $328 million) to address the salary shortfall forthe last three months of the year,” the statement concluded.
The salary issue in the Kurdistan Region has remainedunresolved for years due to ongoing disputes with the federal government. Eachyear, the matter resurfaces during the approval of the federal budget, whichties the Region’s share to conditions, particularly the transfer of oilrevenues. Over the past two years, following the suspension of the Region's oilexports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the federal government has beenproviding salaries as "loans."
In February, the Federal Supreme Court directed Baghdad topay the salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s employees directly, by passing theKurdistan Regional Government, after months of salary delays.
In Parliament, the Iraqi PM emphasized that the salary issueis not political but noted that the Kurdistan Region has failed to meet any ofthe clauses in the Budget Law. He further stated that no additional transferswould be made for the Region’s salaries and confirmed that only 760 billiondinars (approximately 608 million USD) would be disbursed, corresponding to theRegion’s fixed share of 12.67%.
