ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Kurdistan region’s Ministry of Natural Recourses announced Tuesday it had exported over 66 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) from June to end of September this year and received just over $2 billion directly into its account at the Kurdistan International Bank in Erbil.
The statement rejected claims made by a Kurdish lawmaker who told Rudaw earlier that the ministry had received $3 billion for the same period.
Izzat Sabir, the member of Kurdistan’s parliament, told Rudaw on Sunday the Ministry of Natural Resources had received over $3 billion and could solve the economic crisis “if it had the will.”
The ministry has strongly refuted Sabir’s claims and says the lawmaker should either apologize to the ministry or face a lawsuit for “false allegations.”
The wrangling between parliament and the ministry comes as hundreds of teachers have taken to streets to protests against delayed wages.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has struggled to pay its employees in the past year due to plummeting oil prices, a refugee influx and the ongoing war with ISIS along its borders.
Some 80,000 Kurdish soldiers have been involved in the fight along a 1,700-km-long border with the militants, burdening the KRG with heavy expenses.
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