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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Parliament’s finance committee will question government ministers on Monday and Tuesday over developments in financial reforms undertaken by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the committee’s deputy head told Rudaw.
The parliament will hear from Interior Minister Reber Ahmed and Peshmerga Minister Shorsh Ismail on Monday, and Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Awat Sheikh Janab and Martyrs and Anfal Affairs Minister Abdullah Mahmoud on Tuesday, Hevidar Ahmed told Rudaw late Sunday.
“After hosting the ministers, the finance committee will submit a detailed report to the parliament’s presidency about how the reforms are being carried out and how much has been done,” he added.
The Reform of Pensions, Salaries, Allowances, Grants and other Benefits bill was passed in mid-January last year, and signed into law by the President Nechirvan Barzani the following month.
The legislation’s stated aims include the elimination of ghost employees, other fraudulent claims to more than one civil service salary, the reduction of high pensions for MPs and other high ranking officials, as well as the standardization of retirement regulations. The law also seeks to eliminate illegally retired individuals, who have never served in government or security institutions, but receive retirement pay due to their association with party patronage networks.
The KRG began implementing the law in July, starting with the restructuring of the Peshmerga ministry pensions. All pensions associated with the ministry will be incorporated into and paid from the finance ministry’s General Directorate of Pensions based on the provisions of the reform law.
The reforms follow several years of financial crisis in the Kurdistan Region, following budget issues with Baghdad and a dramatic decrease in the price of oil, which accounts for most of the Region’s revenue.
The government has been unable to pay its civil servants in full and on time on a regular basis for nearly half a decade.
For the first time since 2013, the KRG finally drafted a budget earlier this year. The bill has been approved by the finance ministry but the government has not decided whether the salaries of civil servants should be paid in full or with cuts, as the share of the federal budget is yet to arrive.
Changes to the reforms could also lead to changes in the budget before it is voted on by parliament.
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