Kurdistan Parliament passes sweeping payroll reform bill

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – After several sessions spent debating a new bill that would drastically overhaul the Kurdistan Region's payroll and pension system, the region's parliament voted on Tuesday to approve it.

According to statements by lawmakers, the new measures could save the Kurdistan Regional Government as much as 150 billion IQD ($12.5 million) per month.

The approved 24 article bill, which mandates wide sweeping changes to multiple aspects of how salaries and pensions are calculated and disbursed, was and sent to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for endorsement and implementation after the vote was held, said Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jaafar Emenki.

During a press conference attended by various KRG ministers and MPs Emenki added that the bill takes into account the salaries of retirees and lower-level employees in the Kurdistan Region and reduce the salaries of those in top positions, thought by many to be excessive.

Among the other goals of the bill are the elimination of multiple salaries paid to a single worker and also ‘ghost’ employees, the name commonly used for potentially thousands of government employees who receive salaries and retirement pensions without having to show up for work, or without even holding an actual position. To combat this practice, a severe drain on the KRG’s budget, a new comprehensive list of employees will be created, using the collection of employees’ biometric data, such as fingerprints and eye scans.

Rebaz Hamlan, KRG Minister of Finance, praised the two weeks of continued work by the parliament and government to pass the bill, stating that it was an important step toward ending injustice.

The minister stated that all pensioners who receive below 300,000 IQD (just below 250 USD), salaries will be raised to 300,000 IQD, once the bill is implemented.

Within 90 days of the bill taking effect, the KRG will save 150 billion IQD every month, said head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc in the Parliament Omed Khoshnaw.

The practice of multiple salaries being paid to one person will be stopped, Khoshnaw told reporters, with the exception of the families of martyrs, political prisoners, and the disabled, who will receive monthly allowances.

Editing by John J. Catherine