Iraqi auditors arrive in Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation from Iraq’s Federal Board of Supreme Audit arrived in Erbil on Saturday to assess the Kurdistan Region’s revenues for the second half of 2023 following a federal court order that Baghdad assume responsibility for the regional government’s payroll. 

The delegation is set to discuss the revenues and expenditures of the Region in the second half of last year on Sunday, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Finance Hunar Jamal told Rudaw. 

Iraq passed its highly contentious budget bill in June for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, of which the Kurdistan Region's share is 12.6 percent but Erbil has accused Baghdad of not sending its share on time. 

Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in paying the salaries of its civil servants. 

In a recent blow to the KRG, Iraq’s top court on Wednesday ruled that the Region’s oil and non-oil revenues must be handed over to Baghdad. In addition, all salaries are to be paid directly by the federal government, rather than Erbil.

The court also mandated the KRG’s finance ministry to submit a breakdown of the monthly budget for the salaries of the Region’s employees to the federal ministry of finance.

The Kurdistan Region’s main source of revenue has been from oil but its exports have been halted for almost a year. According to the budget law, the KRG is obliged to sell 400,000 barrels of crude oil through Iraq’s national oil marketing body, alternatively Baghdad would use Kurdish oil domestically.