Baghdad ministers in Erbil to talk finances

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation from the Iraqi government arrived in Erbil on Saturday for high-level talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) about its financial entitlements from federal funds.

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein heads the Iraqi delegation which also includes Finance Minister Taif Sami. Rudaw has learned that they will meet with the KRG’s economic council, headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

The two sides will discuss the Kurdistan Region’s constitutional rights, financial entitlements and outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad, the Iraqi finance ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The goal of the visit to Erbil is to bolster bilateral cooperation, improve relations and resolve the problems that exist between them, according to the statement.

Baghdad and Erbil are at odds over several financial issues, most prominently the disbursement of salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s public employees.

After two months of delay, civil servants began receiving their July salaries on Tuesday. The KRG delayed the disbursement as it argued with Baghdad over the amount sent for that month. The Iraqi government sent only a partial payment and pointed to a report from the Federal Board of Supreme Audit that indicated KRG has received an extra 600 billion dinars this year. The board argued that this amount, combined with the KRG’s local income, should suffice to cover for July’s salaries.

Baghdad has paid the salaries of Kurdistan Region’s civil servants for the first six months of this year, albeit with delays. The Iraqi government has pointed to repeated problems such as duplicate names in the payroll list, as well as issues with names on the Kirkuk payroll in July.

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 that worsened when its oil exports were halted a year ago following a court ruling on a dispute between Iraq and Turkey over the Kurdistan Region’s independent oil sales.

Erbil is currently financially dependent on local income sources and its controversial federal budget share.

The KRG is moving to a digital payroll system. About 120,000 of its public servants are currently registered in the My Account initiative and received their salaries through the program for the first time on Wednesday, according to Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Barzani.

Updated at 11:46 pm