“The Iraqi Ministry of Finance has deposited 430 billion and 109 million dinars into the bank account of the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Finance and Economy as part of the March salary funding of employees,” said a statement from the Kurdistan Region’s finance ministry.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday stressed that Baghdad must “guarantee” the salary payments of the Region’s civil servants.
“Baghdad must guarantee the salaries of the Kurdistan Region, as the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants are part of Iraq’s civil servants,” he told reporters after meeting Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid.
“It is important that salary issues no longer become news and part of the problems,” he said.
On Friday, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) finance ministry said it would begin the distribution of March salaries for public employees after recent negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad delegations culminated in the federal government’s agreement to resume payments of the Region’s share from the federal budget, effective from January onwards.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court in February ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to submit a breakdown of the monthly budget for the Region’s employees’ salaries to the finance ministry so Baghdad could start paying the Region’s share from the federal budget.
The ruling mandates the Kurdish government to open accounts for its employees at Iraqi state-owned banks - a process dubbed “localization” by Baghdad.
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.
On Wednesday, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said an “appropriate” solution was found to the issue of paying salaries of civil servants with the assistance of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
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.
