Iraqi Finance Ministry affirms Kurdistan Region's autonomy in civil servant salary distribution
"No federal institution has the authority to directly engage with Kurdistan Region's residents or employees regarding salary distribution," Iraq's Deputy Finance Minister Masoud Haider clarified.

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Iraq's Deputy Finance Minister Masoud Haider clarified today that federal institutions cannot directly manage salary payments to the Kurdistan Region's civil servants, emphasizing the region's constitutional autonomy in administrative affairs.
In a comprehensive statement addressing the ongoing discussion about banking modernization initiatives "MyAccount" and Federal government's domiciliation program (Tawteen), Haider explained that these programs are part of a unified process aimed at transitioning government salary payments to a modern banking system.
"According to Iraq's constitution, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) maintains full responsibility for administering its region," Haider stated. "No federal institution has the authority to directly engage with Kurdistan Region's residents or employees regarding salary distribution."
The Deputy Minister highlighted five key points regarding the salary payment mechanism:
1. "MyAccount" and "Tawteen" represent a single modernization process for salary payments, applicable to both public and private sector employees through government and private banks.
2. Under Articles 117 and 121 of the Iraqi Constitution, the KRG maintains exclusive authority over its internal administrative affairs, including salary distribution.
3. The Federal Supreme Court has protected the Kurdistan Region's financial entitlements from potential disruptions, obligating the federal government to process payments similarly to other Iraqi institutions. The Court has confirmed that salary payments can be processed through any bank authorized by the Central Bank of Iraq.
4. The KRG's banking modernization initiatives serve employee interests and regional economic development while complying with federal court decisions. Haider noted that many Iraqi federal employees already receive their salaries through private banks.
5. The Deputy Minister urged political parties in the Kurdistan Region to avoid politicizing the salary payment mechanism, emphasizing that salary disbursement will continue exclusively through the KRG's Ministry of Finance, with full coordination between federal and regional finance ministries.
This clarification comes amid ongoing discussions about modernizing the public sector salary payment system in the Kurdistan Region, reaffirming the constitutional framework governing federal-regional financial relations.