ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s finance minister on Sunday requested for lawmakers to assist in receiving non-oil revenues from the Kurdistan Region, adding that Erbil has not handed over its oil revenues since a federal court ruling in February.
Following a meeting with the Iraqi parliament’s finance committee, Finance Minister Taif Sami called on the committee “to assist the ministry in addressing the problem of non-oil revenues with the Region’s government,” state media INA reported, citing a ministry statement.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court in February stated in a ruling that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) must hand over all the oil and non-oil revenues to Baghdad. In the same month, the KRG stated its readiness to hand over its non-oil income to the Iraqi government in a bid to abide by the federal budget law and prevent obstacles regarding the flow of money from Baghdad.
The statement added that the KRG “has not handed over its oil revenues to the state treasury since the Federal Court's ruling on paying the salaries of Kurdistan employees.”
The ruling also mandated that both the KRG and the federal government “localize” the salaries of the Region’s employees, transferring the responsibility of paying the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants from Erbil to Baghdad.
Despite the court’s ruling, the cash flow from Baghdad has been inconsistent, as the Region’s employees are yet to receive their salary for the month of September. The Region’s employees also did not receive their salaries for nearly two months over the summer due to a dispute over the allocated sum between Baghdad and Erbil.
“The salaries of the region’s employees amount to 13 trillion dinars [about $9.85 billion], while the Kurdistan Regional Government has only paid 320 billion dinars [about $242 million] from its non-oil revenues,” the statement added.
In May, the KRG transferred over 85 billion dinars ($65 million) from domestic revenues to the federal government - the first time since 2003 that the Kurdistan Region's revenue was sent to Baghdad.
The KRG in February stated its readiness to hand over its non-oil income to the Iraqi government in a bid to abide by the federal budget law and prevent obstacles regarding the flow of money from Baghdad.
The Kurdistan Region is currently financially dependent on local income sources and its controversial federal budget share.
