ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday blamed the federal government for the unpaid salaries of its civil servants, accusing Baghdad of violating the constitution.
“The federal government is violating the constitutional rights of the people of the Kurdistan Region and is not ready to send the financial entitlements of the Kurdistan Region in full,” read a statement from KRG’s finance ministry.
KRG, which mostly relies on its share of the federal budget, has failed to pay November and December salaries of civil servants.
The ministry added that the Region’s 2024 budget allocation is approximately 11.5 trillion dinars, but it requires 12 trillion dinars to meet its needs. Iraq has sent 10.7 trillion dinars, creating an 823 billion dinar shortfall.
“The federal government wants to make the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants victims of its problems and excuses,” the Kurdish ministry claimed.
The statement also addressed claims that the issue stems from the KRG not transferring domestic revenues to the federal government, referencing a February ruling from Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court, saying that the arguments are misunderstood.
The Region’s October salaries for civil servants faced a 239 billion dinar shortfall, which was covered using domestic revenue, said the ministry. It further detailed that the KRG requested nearly one trillion dinars for November and December salaries, but the federal government only sent around 631 billion dinars and decided to allocate 441 billion dinars, for each month respectively.
“As the finance ministry and the KRG, we are insistent on obtaining the December salary, which is the responsibility of the Iraqi government to provide,” the ministry said.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani last month told lawmakers that the KRG would not receive the full amount of money it needs to pay its civil servant salaries, attributing the shortfall to insufficient funds in the Kurdish government’s share of the federal budget.
Article 12 of Iraq’s three-year federal budget bill, passed in June 2023, obliges the KRG to hand over the non-oil revenues to the federal government, in return for the Region’s share in the budget which is 12.6 percent.
KRG has said it pays half of its local income to Baghdad.
