KRG cabinet holds meeting on gov't debts and financial commitments, prepares report

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani On Sunday chaired a cabinet meeting on the regional "government’s outstanding debts and financial commitments," an official statement said.

During the gathering, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) “Debt Management Office presented a detailed report” on the issue, a KRG statement read.

"Following an exchange of views, they decided to submit the report to the Board of Supreme Audit for review," it added. "The report will then be made available to the Kurdistan Parliament and the public."

The move is part of the incumbent cabinet's stated plans on financial transparency as outlined in Barzani's ministerial program. In his inaugural speech, the premier said, “We will work to establish transparency in all economic fields of the Kurdistan region, especially around management and accounting of oil and internal revenues.”

In a televised speech Barzani delivered on May 22, he stressed that his administration would continue its robust plans for economic reform and dialogue with federal Iraqi authorities in Baghdad as key strategies in efforts to tackle ongoing financial hardship faced by the autonomous region.

He also said KRG is an estimated $27 billion in debt, but that most of this is due to “the failure by previous Iraqi federal governments to allocate correctly the budget of the Kurdistan Region."

"As a result, unfortunately, the government holds little or no reserves, forcing us to depend on revenues received monthly.”

In late April, Baghdad froze monthly payments to Erbil of its budget share that was being used to pay government salaries. Primary among ongoing disputes is the federal government transfer of KRG’s share of the national budget and Erbil’s handover of 250,000 barrels of oil per day to Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO, as outlined in an agreement between the two sides that was recently renewed in late 2019 but never implemented.

Editing by Khrush Najari