ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament’s finance committee will invite the finance ministers of both the federal government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to meet as tensions rise over the region’s oil revenues and financial entitlements, an official said on Saturday.
“The finance committee of the Iraqi Parliament decided to host the two finance ministers of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” MP Muthanna Amin told Rudaw.
Amin said the committee will hear from both ministers and present a detailed report to the parliament.
The meeting was requested by Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, according to state media.
Federal Finance Minister Taif Sami met with the committee on Saturday and the financial entitlements of the Kurdistan Region was on the agenda.
Baghdad and Erbil both accuse the other of failing to fulfil their end of agreements between them over oil revenues and budget shares.
“The Iraqi government has not abided by its agreements with the Kurdistan Region… Not only it has not sent the [budget] share of the Kurdistan Region, it also did not send the salaries of the public servants… We feel like this is a policy of starvation,” KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said during a televised address in Erbil last week.
Earlier this week, Baghdad said it would send Erbil 500 billion Iraqi dinars (close to $382 million) to cover public servant salaries.
The KRG Council of Ministers on Wednesday called on Baghdad to pay Erbil’s financial entitlements according to figures previously agreed upon so that salaries can be paid timely and without interruption. “Baghdad must send the financial dues of the Kurdistan Region monthly according to the budget of one trillion and 375 billion dinars, of which 906 billion dinars are allocated for salaries, so that the Kurdistan Regional Government can pay the salaries,” the KRG said in a statement.
Iraqi government spokesperson Basem al-Awadi on Friday stated in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Baghdad had “fully implemented its financial obligations” towards Erbil and that the Kurdistan Region owed an amount more than three times its share of the budget.
“Despite the regional government’s lack of commitment, the federal government took it upon itself not to burden the Iraqi citizens of Kurdistan with the KRG’s non-compliance,” he said, noting that Baghdad would loan funds to Erbil.
Awadi also said the KRG had failed to “hand over oil and non-oil revenues as it was required according to the Federal Budget Law.”
Iraq’s federal finance ministry on Tuesday announced it will be signing a “loan agreement” with the KRG to help pay salaries and that Erbil’s dues will be settled after it complies with its obligations within the budget. The agreement will be signed between the KRG finance ministry and Iraq’s Rafidain and Rasheed banks.
Iraq passed its highly contentious budget bill for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 in June, which includes a record $152 billion in spending, of which the Kurdistan Region’s share is 12.6.
The KRG has failed to pay its civil servants on time and in full for several years due to the financial crisis. Public sector employees have not been paid for July and August.
