ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The salaries of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s civil servants are expected to be deposited by Baghdad on Wednesday, the KRG ministry of finance announced on Tuesday.
The procedures to release some 955 billion Iraqi dinars (around $725 million) to fund the March salaries have been finalized, the KRG finance ministry said, adding that the funds are expected to be transferred on Wednesday to the KRG’s Ministry of Finance account at the Central Bank of Iraq's Erbil branch.
Meanwhile, a well-placed source at the Iraqi council of ministers told Rudaw on Monday that the delay in March salaries was due to the lack of “sufficient amount of cash funds.”
For nearly 11 years, ties between Erbil and Baghdad have been marred by diplomatic rifts.
The initial disputes began in late 2013 and precipitated cutting the KRG’s share of federal budget share in February 2014. This compelled Erbil to unilaterally export crude oil through the Ceyhan port in Turkey to secure needed funds. Since then, KRG civil servants have been bearing the brunt of the austerity measures.
The unpaid salaries crisis in the Kurdistan Region was further aggravated over the past two years following the suspension of Kurdish oil exports in March 2023. This suspension came after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad, stating that Ankara violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to independently export oil starting in 2014.
For its part the United States has been pressuring Iraq to resume Kurdish oil exports and negotiate an agreement with international oil companies (IOCs) that honors existing contracts.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani had a phone call with the US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz on Friday, reaffirming “the need to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan Region as soon as possible.”
Despite continued US pressure, negotiations between Iraqi and Kurdish officials, along with IOCs, have yet to yield concrete results. While IOCs demand payment guarantees and contractual security, Baghdad insists on federal oversight, and Erbil seeks a resolution that safeguards its economic interests.
