President Barzani announces KRG reforms

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani announced several reforms in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday, aiming to restructure the government from its critical financial crisis.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani announced several reforms in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday, aiming to restructure the government from its critical financial crisis.

Kurdistan Region is currently facing an unprecedented financial and economic crisis to such an extent that KRG has been unable to pay government employees salaries over the last five months.

On Wednesday, the President formed a committee to review the size of the KRG’s administration and to decrease the number of superfluous departments and redundant employees to fit its actual need. Barzani also called on assessing financial expenditures and salaries of the Ministry of Finance and Economy and all other ministries.

Reforming the KRG employment system--particularly Ministry of Peshmerga--was another crucial aspect he asked the committee to prioritize and reorganize. Barzani also highlighted the need to optimize the agricultural and tourism sectors.

Additionally, he urged the committee to reform Kurdistan Region’s income and investment systems. President Barzani requested successful companies in the Region to dedicate part of their earnings to the KRG until the government overcomes the current crisis.

He also called on investigating individuals who illegally became wealthy and involved in corrupt practices, and for them to return their earnings to the government.

The committee has been asked to review all the aforementioned subjects and to prepare and submit a detailed report to Kurdistan Region Presidency (KRP) soon.

Furthermore, the President announced several reforms will be implemented in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the largest in the Region.
Recently, KRG launched a roadmap for “reform and modernization” to overcome economic and financial crises in the Kurdistan Region.

 

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Benjamin Kweskin