“After much effort and with the cooperation of both the teams of the federal government’s prime minister and the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG], we were able to reach an appropriate solution for the problem of paying the salaries of employees in the Region,” Barzani said in a statement.
While thanking Sudani, he added that the KRG will attempt to distribute public sector salaries for the month of March before the Eid al-Fitr holidays.
The KRG has failed to pay the salaries of its civil servants on time and in full for a decade due to a financial crisis which deteriorated when a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court suspended its export of oil to the international markets a year ago. The Kurdish government now relies on local income and its controversial share from the federal budget. The KRG paid nine salaries of public employees last year and has paid only one salary this year.
In late March, the KRG decided to pay the February salaries of its civil servants weeks after it refused to receive its share from the federal budget on the grounds that it was not sufficient. The salary distribution for February is ongoing.
The cash-strapped KRG has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds. Last June, Iraq passed a three-year budget of which the Kurdistan Region's share is 12.6 percent. 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.
Over five months last year, Erbil handed over 11.8 million barrels of oil to Baghdad, the KRG Finance Minister Awat Shekh Janab said in March.
