Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani (left) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (right) bump elbows in Baghdad. Photo: handout/Qubad Talabani Twitter
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Erbil and Baghdad are close to finalizing an agreement on implementing the 2021 federal budget, according to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani who wrapped up a visit to Baghdad on Wednesday. The budget was passed two months ago, but funds have yet to be sent to Erbil.
“We are close to finalizing mechanisms necessary to implement the 2021 budget law,” Talabani tweeted late on Wednesday. He is leading the KRG’s budget talks with Baghdad.
He added that “good will & carrying out the law to the letter” will take Erbil and Baghdad’s relations “beyond the stalemate” of last year.
Talabani and his team travelled to Baghdad at the beginning of the week for meetings with Iraqi government officials.
In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, he discussed “the mechanisms for implementing the 2021 Iraqi Budget Law and securing the region's financial entitlements,” according to a statement from Talabani.
The budget was passed by the parliament in late March after intense debate and more than three months after it was approved by the cabinet. Baghdad sending the Kurdistan Region its budget share is conditional on Erbil fulfilling their commitments, which include handing over 250,000 barrels of oil per day, paying back money it borrowed from the Iraqi Trade Bank, and prioritizing paying the salaries of its civil servants and Peshmerga before any other spending.
Kadhimi in May said that “a committee is currently working on sending the Kurdistan Region's share of the budget bill for this month.”
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