Iraqi Council of Ministers to decide on Kurdistan Region financial entitlements on Sunday

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Council of Ministers on Sunday will decide on the proposals of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), including the transfer of $600 million per month to the Kurdistan Region.

Sherwan Dubardani, a member of Iraqi parliament representing the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), told Kurdistan 24 that the KRG delegation was proposing to amend articles 12 and 13 of the budget law related to the Kurdistan Region's share.

Kurdistan 24 has learned that if the Iraqi government sends $600 million per month for the salaries of Kurdistan Region civil servants, then the Kurdistan Region can instead distribute salaries alternatively using its own domestic revenues.

In order to resolve disputes between Baghdad and Erbil, a delegation from the KRG led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met in Baghdad on Sept. 14.

Following the meetings, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani announced the framework for short-term and long-term solutions that had been proposed to the Iraqi officials in order to overcome the dispute over KRG salaries.

Amendments should be made to the country’s three-year budget law adopted in June, according to the long-term plan, while the short-term solution focuses on reimbursing funds to the Kurdish public employees.

On Sept. 3, the Iraqi Council of Ministers decided to send $384 million in the form of loans to pay salaries to the Kurdistan Region; however, KRG representation implied that the federal government had unilaterally made the decision without consulting the Kurdish region.

Meanwhile, the KRG Finance Minister said on Sept. 4, that the amount of money the federal government is going to send, with a domestic revenue of about $244 million, is not sufficient to cover all salaries.

Despite meeting its commitments as outlined in the agreements, Erbil asserts that the federal government has not disbursed salaries to its civil servants as per their prior mutual agreement.