KRG Council of Ministers addresses civil servant salaries
The ministers came into agreement that there should be equal treatment for all civil servants throughout Iraq.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Chaired by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers held its weekly meeting on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister commenced the meeting by congratulating the leadership of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan on the occasion of its 5th Congress and hoped that it would promote opportunities for bipartisan cooperation and unity.
During the first chapter of the meeting, Abdul Hakim Khasraw, the Head of the KRG's Coordination and Monitoring Department, presented the latest steps and progress of the joint audit salary schedule by the Iraqi and Kurdistan Region financial supervision offices.
The ministers came into agreement that there should be equal treatment for all civil servants throughout Iraq. They emphasized that Iraqi citizens, including those in the Kurdistan Region, are equal before the law and should not be discriminated against under any circumstances.
Furthermore, Barzani stressed that the KRG has already provided all the data and information about the salaries of Kurdistan Region civil servants in a very clear and transparent manner and recorded it in an advanced biometric electronic system. This data has further been provided to their relevant Iraqi authorities.
In the second chapter, the Acting Minister of Natural Resources, Kamal Mohammed Salih, noted that since the implementation of the budget law on June 25, the Kurdistan Region has committed to delivering daily supplies of petroleum to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, and has met the amount requested for the country’s domestic consumption. However, the federal government has not paid for production and transportation costs.
"This shows the Kurdistan Region's goodwill," the minister reiterated.
In addition, the Kurdistan Region considered an agreement among the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the international oil-producing companies on the costs important for the successful resumption of oil exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port. Since March 25 of this year, oil production has been suspended, causing financial losses to both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region estimated at nearly $7 billion.
Lastly, Aydin Maruf Salim, the Minister of State for Minority Affairs, presented a report on the general situation of minorities in the Kurdistan Region, which included several suggestions for further development and the strengthening of peaceful coexistence between religious and ethnic communities in the Kurdistan Region.
The Prime Minister highlighted that peaceful coexistence is a key feature of the Kurdistan Region's reputation that they are proud of and that they will do whatever is necessary to maintain and develop.
