Iraqi Vice-Speaker blasts Baghdad over delayed Kurdish salaries

Shafaq News – Kirkuk

The Iraqi government is deliberately delaying salary payments to public employees in the Kurdistan Region, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Shakhwan Abdullah, stated on Sunday.

“Baghdad takes pleasure in the suffering of our employees and enjoys delaying their salaries,” Abdullah told reporters during a visit to Kirkuk. He added that the mechanism for paying July and future salaries remains unchanged from June, with final decisions left to the cabinet in Baghdad.

The Kurdish Finance Ministry confirmed last week that it deposited 120B IQD ($91 million) in non-oil revenues from June into the Iraqi government’s account at the Central Bank in Erbil, after a cabinet decision on August 26 authorized the release of Kurdistan’s salaries on the condition of the transfer.

The arrangement is part of a broader deal reached earlier this year. Baghdad agreed to send salaries for May and June in exchange for 240 billion dinars in Regional non-oil revenues—120 billion per month—and the handover of 230,000 barrels of oil per day.

The dispute stems from long-standing tensions between Baghdad and Erbil over oil exports and revenue sharing. The crisis has intensified since May 2025, when Baghdad withheld salaries amid disagreements on how to unify public finances and manage Kurdistan’s oil sales.