KRG Council of Ministers to discuss Iraq’s payments to Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani is set to chair a weekly Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet meeting in Erbil to discuss the Iraqi government’s recent decision to release payments for the Kurdish region, according to a statement.

Prime Minister Barzani will chair the weekly session in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani in Erbil.

The ministers are set to discuss the KRG’s high-level delegation visit to Baghdad last week, which resulted in an agreement to dispense 700 billion dinars ($534.1 million) monthly until November to the Kurdistan Region.

The decision was warmly received by Prime Minister Barzani, who thanked the Iraqi premier and all the Kurdish and Iraqi parties that had played a role in securing the funds for the Kurdistan Region.

The KRG is set to start the salary payment process to its civil servants next week, Kurdistan 24 has learned.

Barzani last week announced that he had submitted two proposals to the Iraqi leaders in order to resolve the budgetary dispute between the two sides.

Amendments should be made to the country’s three-year budget law adopted in June, according to the long-term plan, while the short-term solution focuses on reimbursing funds to the Kurdish public employees.

Despite meeting its commitments as outlined in the agreements, Erbil asserts that the federal government has not disbursed salaries to its civil servants as per their prior mutual agreement.

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.

"We will continue to serve our beloved citizens and prevent any targeted efforts to undermine the stability of the Kurdistan Region," the Kurdish premier added.