Politics

KRG: Baghdad did not send the region’s salaries; we borrowed $205 million

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Spokesperson Jutyar Adil said on Wednesday that Erbil has borrowed 205 million dollars to pay the salaries of the autonomous region's employees resulting from Baghdad’s failure to release funds allotted for that purpose amid ongoing budget disputes between the two.

Mustafa Shilani 2020/12/02 14:56

kurdistan Kurdistan Erbil Baghdad KRG Economy

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Spokesperson Jutyar Adil said on Wednesday that Erbil has borrowed 205 million dollars to pay the salaries of the autonomous region's employees resulting from Baghdad’s failure to release funds allotted for that purpose amid ongoing budget disputes between the two.

"Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in the past few days has been in constant communication with the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi and the Council of Ministers to get the region's dues sent and Baghdad officials had promised to address the problem," Adil said in a press conference in Erbil.

"Baghdad did not send the agreed-upon amount until now. Given the difficult conditions for citizens, we decided to start distributing employees' salaries for October starting from tomorrow, on Thursday," Adil said, pointing out that KRG had to borrow $205 million to fill the deficit.

At a meeting with a Russian diplomat on Tuesday, Barzani warned that it was crucial that "the issue of salaries and financial dues not be used by the federal government as a pressure card to punish the Kurdistan Region."

Adil continued, "The region's internal revenues are not sufficient to cover salaries," adding that "salaries need 750 billion Iraqi dinars per month and the regional government currently has only 400 billion dinars."

The official then explained that the Kurdistan Region’s oil will not be pre-sold and that a 50-year pipeline agreement with Turkey does not include the region’s oil.

The KRG has decided to send a delegation to Baghdad to discuss the financial dues for the region and the salaries of employees.

During the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Barzani said "there is no party that cares about the lives and livelihood of citizens as much as the regional government, which has done everything in its power to secure the salaries of the Kurdistan Region."

Barzani emphasized that "the region's financial dues are legitimate rights for the people of Kurdistan, and we will never give them up, and we will continue our talks with the federal government in order to guarantee our constitutional rights."

Editing by John J. Catherine