ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) returned to Baghdad on Saturday to resume talks with the Iraqi government over outstanding issues.
The delegation is set to meet with Iraqi officials and discuss “the latest developments in the budget bill, oil and gas law, article 140, and compensation of the Kurdistan Region’s people as a result of the policies of the past Iraqi regime against the people of the Kurdistan Region,” read a statement from the KRG.
The delegation, directed by the Prime Minister, is led by the Kurdistan Region’s minister of finance, the statement added.
The budget has been a point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad for several years, especially after the Kurdistan Region's decision to sell its oil through Turkey, and the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq in 2014.
Almost two years after Iraq passed its last budget law, Erbil and Baghdad remain in disagreement over several different issues.
Kurdish government delegations have traveled to Baghdad on several occasions to reach a common ground with the Iraqi government, however, none of the visits have had a solid outcome.
Following the latest delegation’s visit to Baghdad in January, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani told members of his cabinet that the KRG has performed its part in reaching an agreement with the federal government and what remains is Baghdad’s compliance with seeing the agreements through.
Unable to reach a final agreement over the Kurdistan Region’s share of the budget and independent oil sales at the time, an agreement was made between the KRG and the Iraqi federal government in 2021 where Baghdad would send 200 billion dinars ($125 million) monthly to the Kurdistan Region.
The newly-formed Iraqi cabinet, headed by Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, approved the payment of 400 billion dinars ($250 million) to the Region for the months of November and December last year.
However, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court earlier this month ruled against Baghdad's payment of the Kurdistan Region’s financial entitlements, claiming it violates the 2021 Iraqi Budget Law.
The delegation is set to meet with Iraqi officials and discuss “the latest developments in the budget bill, oil and gas law, article 140, and compensation of the Kurdistan Region’s people as a result of the policies of the past Iraqi regime against the people of the Kurdistan Region,” read a statement from the KRG.
The delegation, directed by the Prime Minister, is led by the Kurdistan Region’s minister of finance, the statement added.
The budget has been a point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad for several years, especially after the Kurdistan Region's decision to sell its oil through Turkey, and the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq in 2014.
Almost two years after Iraq passed its last budget law, Erbil and Baghdad remain in disagreement over several different issues.
Kurdish government delegations have traveled to Baghdad on several occasions to reach a common ground with the Iraqi government, however, none of the visits have had a solid outcome.
Following the latest delegation’s visit to Baghdad in January, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani told members of his cabinet that the KRG has performed its part in reaching an agreement with the federal government and what remains is Baghdad’s compliance with seeing the agreements through.
Unable to reach a final agreement over the Kurdistan Region’s share of the budget and independent oil sales at the time, an agreement was made between the KRG and the Iraqi federal government in 2021 where Baghdad would send 200 billion dinars ($125 million) monthly to the Kurdistan Region.
The newly-formed Iraqi cabinet, headed by Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, approved the payment of 400 billion dinars ($250 million) to the Region for the months of November and December last year.
However, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court earlier this month ruled against Baghdad's payment of the Kurdistan Region’s financial entitlements, claiming it violates the 2021 Iraqi Budget Law.
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