KRG delegation to visit Baghdad

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation is set to visit the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Tuesday to continue talks with federal authorities on implementing the budget law, according to a government spokesperson.

KRG Spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani’s remarks came during an interview with Kurdistan 24 on Sunday in Erbil.

The Kurdistan Region has fulfilled its duties under the budget law, Hawramani said, adding the semiautonomous region is awaiting its share in the federal budget in order to start paying public salaries.

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has instructed the delegates to fully cooperate with the federal officials and auditors, according to the spokesperson.

A number of delegations have visited Baghdad recently for budget and oil and gas talks, particularly regarding drafting a hydrocarbon bill.

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.

Iraq passed its three-year budget bill in June, considered to be one of the country’s budgets.

The state expenditures are set at 198.91 trillion Iraqi dinars ($153 billion) with a deficit of more than 64 trillion dinars (over $48 billion).

The Kurdistan Region’s share in the federal budget is set at 12.67 percent, amounting to more than $12 billion annually.