ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Friday that Baghdad has sent less than half of its share of the 2023 federal budget.
“The Kurdistan Regional Government has published detailed payments sent by the Federal Government to the Kurdistan Region in 2023 and according to official information, 9 trillion and 378 billion dinars of the Kurdistan Region's financial rights and entitlements have not been sent,” read a statement from the KRG.
Erbil was due a total of about 16.5 trillion dinars (about $13 million), according to the KRG, adding that the federal government has sent around 998 billion dinars from the budget and 3.7 trillion dinars as a loan.
The cash-strapped KRG has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds. Last June, Iraq passed a three-year budget of which the Kurdistan Region's share is 12.6 percent. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in paying the salaries of its civil servants.
The KRG has disputed Iraq’s claims. According to the statement, the KRG’s natural resources ministry handed over 12 million barrels of oil to the federal government between June 25 and November 30 of 2023, but Baghdad has not sent any funds to cover production or transportation costs, as well as the financial entitlements of the international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region.
The row with Baghdad over federal funds has contributed to the KRG’s dire financial situation, in addition to the halt of the Region’s oil exports through Turkey for the past year.
Erbil said not being able to export its oil has “severely damaged” the federal treasury and the IOCs operating in the Kurdistan Region, putting the loss at an estimated $10 billion.
Iraq’s top court recently ruled that the Kurdistan Region’s oil and non-oil revenues must be handed over to Baghdad and all salaries are to be paid directly by the federal government, rather than by Erbil.
