ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday announced that his cabinet will make an important decision the next day, which is expected to be about the salaries of the Region’s civil servants. “Tomorrow we will make a decision during the Council of Ministers meeting,” Barzani said during an event in Erbil late Tuesday without elaborating. “I am sure every party will [claim to] be part of it. The decision will be in the interest of the public,” he added, referring to the Region’s political parties. The KRG has failed to pay the salaries of its civil servants on time and in full for a decade due to a financial crisis which deteriorated when a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court suspended its export of oil to the international markets a year ago. The Kurdish government now relies on local income and its controversial share from the federal budget. The KRG paid nine salaries of public employees last year and has paid only one salary this year. The Council of Ministers is expected to focus on the salaries of its civil servants during Wednesday’s meeting. It is expected to announce the fate of its employees’ unpaid salaries for this year. Erbil and Baghdad have been at odds over the Region’s share from the federal budget for years. The cash-strapped KRG has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds. Last June, Iraq passed a three-year budget of which the Kurdistan Region's share is 12.6 percent. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in paying the salaries of its civil servants. Over five months last year, Erbil handed over 11.8 million barrels of oil to Baghdad, the KRG Finance Minister Awat Shekh Janab said on Saturday. Ankara, Erbil, and Baghdad have had negotiations about restarting the exports, but fees paid to the oil producers remains a sticking point.
