Erbil, Baghdad negotiations ‘comprehensive, going into right direction’, says KRG official

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The ongoing and comprehensive Erbil and Baghdad negotiations are covering a range of topics, including the budgetary issues and disputed territories, and they are going in the right direction, a senior government official told reporters on Thursday.

Omed Sabah, the president of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Diwan, who is often a senior member of the government delegations to Baghdad to discuss outstanding issues, spoke to reporters in Kirkuk during an election rally for his party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

“The negotiations are going in the right direction,” Sabah said, adding the discussions include various subjects, including oil and gas, budgetary disputes as well as the disputed areas.

The KRG official, who is also a member of the KDP Central Committee, said a new delegation will go back to Baghdad “soon” to continue the talks.

However, the Kurdish region’s share in the budget has been set as 12 percent, the semi-autonomous region has not received its share since the three-year budget’s approval in June. Instead, Baghdad has paid Erbil’s financial entitlements in loans until September.

The KRG has officially requested Baghdad to send additional funds to cover the remaining months of the year until the amendment of the budget law, Sabah said.

The 700 billion IQD ($538 million) is supposed to be transferred monthly to the Kurdistan Region per an agreement between the two governments.