KRG gives full access to Iraqi auditing authority for financial inspection: federal official

The cooperation between the federal and regional financial monitoring agencies is “ongoing and at the highest level."

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/12/22 11:10

KRG, Iraqi members of auditing authorities are examining the Kurdish region's spending. (Photo: KRG Media and Information Department)

Kurdistan Krg Board of Supreme Audit Federal Government

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region has granted the Iraqi auditing agency full access to its spending portfolio, according to a high-level federal official.

An Iraqi delegation from the auditing authority visited the Kurdistan Region recently upon the invitation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers. It inspected the region’s spending profile, according to Rafel Yaseen Khdheir, the head of Iraq’s auditing authority.

The cooperation between the federal and regional financial monitoring agencies is “ongoing and at the highest level,” the Iraqi official told the KRG media, describing them as “excellent”.

The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has reiterated that “all doors and dossiers are open” to the federal monitoring authority, Khdheir added.

The lack of federal financial monitoring of the Kurdistan Region’s spending was one of the divisive issues that contributed to rocky relations between Erbil and Baghdad in the past, Khaleed Hadi Chawshli, the head of KRG auditing authority, told the media.

Once the auditing process is finalized, the Kurdistan Region will be a step closer to fulfilling its “legitimate rights,” the Kurdish official said.