Shafaq News / the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plans to send a delegation to Baghdad on Wednesday to firm up the financial rights of the region

The Kurdish Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, said during the weekly cabinet meeting, "the Government had tried anything and would do anything to secure the salaries of citizens," adding that “the region's financial dues are legitimate rights of the people of Kurdistan, and we will continue to negotiate with the federal government to guarantee our rights.”

Barzani confirmed, "We are in constant contact with the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and the Council of Ministers, and they pledged to solve the issue of the salaries of Kurdish in the coming days."

The cabinet also decided to send a government delegation to Baghdad as soon as possible to "defending the constitutional rights of the Kurdistan Region," according to a statement issued by the regional government.

The region’s oil exports have long been a source of contention with Baghdad. The Kurds, who control Iraq’s only northern pipeline, had been exporting oil independently since 2013. Exports from Kirkuk were restarted in 2018, after a year-long freeze amid post-referendum disputes. Exports from smaller oilfields under the regional government’s control continued.

The governments of Iraq and Kurdistan have reached an agreement on Erbil’s contribution to the 2020 federal budget.

The deal includes a transfer of 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the oil-producing region to Iraq’s national budget in exchange of securing the financial dues of the region.

However, Kurdistan said that the federal government did not keep their promise of sending the all financial duties to the region.