Baghdad to send Kurdistan’s salaries within 48 hours

Shafaq News / The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and the Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad Al-Halbousi, chaired today, Saturday, the meeting between the federal government and the regional Government.

The two sides expressed commitment to implementing the fiscal deficit financing law and took into account the financial allocations to all Iraq including Kurdistan.

Later, The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) confirmed Baghdad guarantees to transfer 320 billion dinars to the region within the next 48 hours.”

A member of the PUK, Faiq Yazidi told Shafaq News Agency, that "the federal Government  promised to pay the financial duties as successive payments.”

Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani heads a high-ranking delegation to Baghdad, aiming to reaching an agreement of the region's financial dues in the 2021 federal budget.

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.