‘Zero payments’ from Baghdad hurt Kurdistan Region citizens, says PM Barzani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Baghdad’s refusal to spend the Kurdistan Region’s financial entitlements hurt the Region’s citizens, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Thursday.

"Zero payments from Baghdad hurt our citizens, erode trust, and blatantly violate the Iraqi Constitution," Barzani said in a social media post on X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The premier's post includes a chart, on which "zero" Iraqi dinars are shown for the "money received" columns for the months of July, August, and September. 

Baghdad owes Kurdistan Region 1.375 trillion IQD (the Region's share in the Iraqi budget) for the past three months, per the chart. 

Zero payments from Baghdad hurt our citizens, erode trust, and blatantly violate the Iraqi Constitution. pic.twitter.com/3IPuB3Xx0x

— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) September 7, 2023

Barzani's social media post comes as the regional government has previously called on Baghdad to release the Kurdish share in the three-year budget. 

Since its adoption in early June, KRG has alleged the budget has not been implemented properly by the government. Instead of paying the Kurdish share, they allege Baghdad has released allowances to Erbil in order to cover the public salaries. The KRG has previously said the 500 billion dinars (over $384 million) is not sufficient to pay the salaries. 

Hailed as one of the country’s biggest budgets, the state expenditures were 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.