“The Ministry of Finance and Economy has assented and decided to pay the incentive bonus for doctors and health employees,” Health Minister Dr. Rekawt Hama Rasheed told Rudaw. “Distribution will start this week.”
A letter signed by Finance Minister Rebaz Mohammad, dated March 26, orders payment of 4.1 billion Iraqi dinars ($3.46 million) in incentives and nightshift overtime.
The incentive payment amounts to 100,000 Iraqi dinars (about $84) monthly and is intended to cover the transport expenses of health workers. Those working outside towns and cities will receive 150,000 dinars.
The health ministry had approved the payments earlier this month, saying they would be distributed after the Newroz holiday.
The Kurdistan Region has been rocked by growing protests and strikes by angry public sector employees, led by teachers demanding the abolishment of the KRG’s salary-saving system that has seen their pay packets slashed under austerity measures.
After a day of protests across the Kurdistan Region on Sunday, the KRG’s Council of Ministers announced they would adjust the salary-saving system if Baghdad continues to send funds to Erbil.
The Ministry of Health will submit a proposal to the Council of Ministers this week to reduce how much they cut from their employees’ salaries.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he is willing to pay the salaries of the KRG’s health and education ministries, after they were audited. The first payment from Baghdad, however, was distributed to all the ministries, and not just health and education, meaning the payments were still in line with the salary-saving system and not full wages.
