KRG Council of Ministers to discuss Kurdish share in federal budget

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers is set to convene on Wednesday to discuss the Region’s share in the federal budget, among other topics, according to a statement.

The weekly session will be chaired by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani in Erbil, according to the government statement.

The implementation of the 2023-2025 budget law and the Kurdish share will be discussed along with the ongoing discussions between Erbil and Baghdad on other outstanding issues, the press release said.

The current state of affairs regarding fuel and electricity in the Region will be discussed as well.

The government’s efforts to digitize the payment of public salaries is another topic that ministers are set to highlight.

The discussions around the budget come as Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani on Tuesday said that a part of the Region’s financial entitlements has been released to the Kurdish region after Erbil had fulfilled its responsibility by transferring 50,000 barrels of oil per day to the Ministry of Oil.

A KRG delegation on early Wednesday visited Baghdad to continue talks on the budget implementation.

Per the budget deal, the Iraqi oil marketing company, known as SOMO, would be in charge of selling the Kurdish oil following years of independent exports by the KRG.

Erbil has been transferring 50,000-60,000 barrels of oil on a daily basis to Baghdad in line with the agreement it had inked with Baghdad, which will be responsible for paying the salaries as well as covering other public expenditures, a senior KRG official told Kurdistan 24 recently.

Prior to the stoppage, the Kurdistan Region was exporting over 400,000 barrels of oil per day through a pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

The management of oil and gas has been a contentious issue between Erbil and Baghdad for over a decade.