May Salaries Imminent After New Erbil-Baghdad Oil Deal: Kurdistan24's Baghdad Correspondent
May salaries for KRG employees are imminent following a new deal. Erbil will hand over its reduced oil output (80k bpd) to Baghdad and has already deposited its 120bn dinar non-oil revenue share.
By Kamaran Aziz
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Finance is expected to disburse the long-overdue May salaries for Kurdistan Region employees within the next few hours, following a breakthrough agreement where Erbil will hand over its current daily oil production in exchange for the funds.
According to information obtained by Kurdistan24's correspondent in Baghdad, Dilan Barzan, from several informed sources, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani and federal Minister of Finance Taif Sami decided late Monday night to release the funds after extensive discussions with officials from Erbil.
The payment is anticipated to be processed before the Iraqi Council of Ministers holds its regular meeting at 1:00 PM today, Tuesday. A source told Kurdistan24's correspondent, "It is expected that before the meeting begins, the federal Ministry of Finance will deposit the May salaries for employees into the bank account of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Finance and Economy at the Erbil branch of the Central Bank of Iraq, and it will not be necessary to include the salary issue on the agenda for today's Council of Ministers meeting."
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is prepared to act immediately. "The Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Finance and Economy has prepared the distribution list for the May salaries," the correspondent added. "It is expected that after the Iraqi Ministry of Finance sends the funds, the list will be published within the next few hours, and salary distribution will begin as early as tomorrow."
This development follows a new understanding that adapts to current realities on the ground. The original memorandum of understanding, approved by the Iraqi Council of Ministers on July 17, required the KRG to hand over 120 billion dinars in monthly non-oil revenue and 230,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
However, drone attacks have since caused oil production in the Kurdistan Region to drop to approximately 80,000 bpd.
According to information from the Kurdistan24 correspondent, the new agreement stipulates that until production recovers, "the Kurdistan Regional Government will hand over all of its daily produced oil, approximately 80,000 barrels, to the SOMO company. In return, the Iraqi government will disburse the May salaries and salaries for other months for the Kurdistan Region's employees."
In a key move demonstrating its commitment, the KRG fulfilled its part of the non-oil revenue agreement. In a statement today, the KRG's Ministry of Finance and Economy confirmed that its non-oil revenue for May, amounting to 120 billion dinars, "was deposited in cash into the bank account of the federal government's Ministry of Finance at the Erbil branch of the Central Bank of Iraq."
The last salary payment from Baghdad was over 80 days ago. On May 13, the federal ministry deposited 959 billion and 514 million dinars for the previous pay period.
Kurdistan24's correspondent Dilan Barzani from Baghdad contributed to this report.
