Federal deposit of nearly 700 billion dinars funds Peshmerga and Security salaries in Kurdistan

Shafaq News / On Tuesday, Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Finance and Economy announced that the Federal Government deposited 676,036 million dinars (about $515 million) to fund May and June salaries for the Peshmerga and security forces.

On July 9, the Peshmerga Affairs Minister, Shoresh Ismail, said that the Federal Government had agreed to pay the salaries of the Peshmerga Forces; days later, the KRG announced that the Federal Government had decided to pay May and June salaries.

In recent months, Kurdish officials in the Regional Government clarified that the delay is unrelated to political or legal problems. Instead, it arises from technical challenges and the process of verifying the lists of Peshmerga and Internal Security Force members.

Oil exports previously provided independent funding for the Kurdistan Region, partially covering salaries. However, a dispute involving the Federal Government and Turkiye, the export route for oil, has blocked this income source for the regional administration since March 2023.

Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad reached a preliminary agreement for Kurdish oil sales to be managed by the Federal Government. In return, the autonomous region will receive 12.6% of Iraq's public spending.

The court ruling mandated the Kurdish administration to transfer all revenues, including oil and non-oil, to the Federal Government and undergo an audit of its accounts.

Without oil revenues, Kurdistan relies mainly on taxes from border crossings with neighboring countries like Iran and Turkiye, both major trade partners of Iraq.