KRG delegation to visit Baghdad for public salaries talks

The delegation is expected to meet with the Iraqi federal government's finance and oil officials.

Kurdistan 24 2023/07/26 13:16

KRG and Iraqi federal government officials are pictured in a meeting, July 19, 2023. (Photo: Courtesy of Omed Sabah)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation is set to visit Baghdad on Wednesday to continue talks on the salaries of the public employees as well as the Kurdistan Region's share in the federal budget, an informed source told Kurdistan 24.

The delegation is expected to meet with the Iraqi federal government's finance and oil officials, the source said without elaborating further details.

The KRG Spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani later confirmed the visit in a tweet.

The visit came after "a call between Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani," Hawramani said.

Kurdistan Region's public employees have not yet received their July salaries. The KRG has called on Baghdad to release the Kurdish employees' payments, as Erbil is no longer in charge of selling its oil, whose revenues were used to be spent on covering public expenses.

Per the budget deal, the Iraqi oil marketing company, known as SOMO, would be in charge of selling the Kurdish oil following years of independent exports by the KRG.

Erbil has been transferring 50,000-60,000 barrels of oil on a daily basis to Baghdad in line with the agreement it had inked with Baghdad, which will be responsible for paying the salaries as well as covering other public expenditures, a senior KRG official told Kurdistan 24 recently.

Prior to the stoppage, the Kurdistan Region was exporting over 400,000 barrels of oil per day through a pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

The management of oil and gas has been a contentious issue between Erbil and Baghdad for over a decade.

Iraq passed its three-year budget bill in June, considered to be one of the country’s budgets.

The state expenditures are set at 198.91 trillion Iraqi dinars ($153 billion) with a deficit of more than 64 trillion dinars (over $48 billion).

The Kurdistan Region’s share in the federal budget is set at 12.67 percent, amounting to more than $12 billion annually.

The management of oil and gas has been among the thorny issues between Erbil and Baghdad for over a decade, leading to the suspension of the Region’s share in previous federal budgets.