Iraq’s cabinet greenlights Kurdistan salary payments

Shafaq News – Baghdad

On Tuesday, Iraq’s cabinet approved funding for public sector salaries in the Kurdistan Region, linking June payments to the transfer of revenues and oil deliveries mandated under the 2023-2025 Federal Budget Law.

A statement from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s media office noted that the decision extends an earlier measure authorizing payroll funding for the Region.

Committees overseeing the process are required to submit reports within a week, while a technical team calculates the federal treasury’s share of the Region’s non-oil revenues, ensuring accountability in the transfer process.

Instead of transferring a fixed amount as in previous months, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will now remit its share of non-oil revenues directly to the federal treasury. The Ministry of Finance and the Federal Board of Supreme Audit will monitor the process.

The cabinet also instructed the KRG to ensure that oil companies operating in the Region deliver crude in line with the Federal Budget Law, ‘’reinforcing the link between revenue transfers and monthly allocations.’’

Under this law, the KRG is required to provide both oil and non-oil revenues to the federal treasury in exchange for monthly payments. In practice, salary transfers have frequently been delayed amid political disputes and claims of non-compliance.