ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A high-level delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is set to visit Baghdad on Sunday to meet with officials from the Iraqi government to secure the Region’s financial entitlements in the 2027 federal budget bill, Rudaw has learned.
"Tomorrow, a high-level KRG delegation will travel to Baghdad to meet with the Iraqi finance ministry to discuss the Kurdistan Region's financial entitlements within the 2027 federal budget bill," Rudaw’s Ziyad Ismail reported on Saturday, citing an informed source from the KRG delegation.
The 2027 budget is being prepared against a backdrop of prolonged fiscal uncertainty, as Iraq did not enact a new budget law for 2026 and has instead operated under a one-twelfth spending mechanism based on previous budget allocations.
According to the source, the visiting delegation includes Omed Sabah, head of the Diwan of the Council of Ministers, KRG Cabinet Secretary Amanj Rahim, and several senior officials from the KRG Ministry of Finance.
However, the source added that KRG Finance Minister Awat Sheikh Janab would not participate in the visit after submitting his resignation to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani over an administrative dispute within the ministry.
The visit continues a recent series of meetings between both sides, which featured technical-level discussions aimed at drafting an appropriate mechanism to implement and guarantee the Kurdistan Region's demands and financial entitlements within the Iraqi budget.
Alongside the 2027 budget file, the disbursement of funds for the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants' salaries remains a critical topic on the agenda.
The September payroll for the Region's public employees is scheduled to be sent to Baghdad early this week for auditing by the federal finance ministry, allowing the salary funding procedures to commence.
Last month, a senior KRG Finance Ministry source told Rudaw English that Erbil was seeking 14.1 percent of the national budget, calculated on the basis of the 2025 population census.
“We are heading to a month of extensive discussions with Baghdad,” the source said, adding that the talks would address the Kurdistan Region’s financial needs and responsibilities.
The latest draft is expected to proceed to the federal Council of Ministers before being submitted to parliament for formal approval, following previous federal budget arrangements that set the KRG's share at roughly 12.5 percent after deducting sovereign expenditures.
