PM Barzani inaugurates Cihan Bank headquarters in Erbil
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Wednesday inaugurated the newly built headquarters of Cihan Bank in Erbil.
Barzani toured the Kurdish bank's main office, which has been part of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s My Account Initiative, one of the ninth cabinet’s works to digitize the payment method of public sector employees.
The KRG Minister of Finance and Economy Awat Janab Noori also accompanied the premier on the visit.
“One of the main pillars of strengthening the Kurdistan Region’s economy is through the banking sector,” Barzani told the bank’s executives and employees, hailing their work and contribution to the government program.
The premier announced that seven other banks in the Kurdistan Region have expressed their willingness to be part of the government’s My Account Initiative to digitalize the public sector’s payment method.
Within two years, all the public sector employees will have their own bank accounts, through which they can receive their monthly salaries and make other payments.
Barzani said that his government works to “standardize” the banking system in the Kurdistan Region, for which the KRG is working with the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) and its governor.
He called on the CBI to “speed up” the cooperation with the Region, so it can further improve its banking system.
The government bank has previously welcomed the ninth cabinet’s My Account initiative.
Cihan Bank is part of the Cihan Group companies, a group of Kurdish businesses, including education, automotive, media, insurance, food, and construction.
A modern banking sector is the basis for our vision for #StrongerKurdistan.
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) June 14, 2023
Over the next two years, we will transfer 1.2m public sector beneficiaries to private banks and foster digital payments to promote economic growth. #هەژماری_من pic.twitter.com/xIPmLL2Rpb