Iraq's PM commits to equal salary funding and oil guarantees for Kurdistan Region
Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Erbil
The Iraqi government has issued direct instructions to the Finance Ministry to fund Kurdistan Region civil servant salaries on equal terms with the rest of Iraq, the head of the Diwan of the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers confirmed Sunday, disclosing the substance of talks between KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and federal Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Baghdad.
Omed Sabah, who accompanied Barzani's delegation, told reporters the meetings addressed six priority files: employee salaries, non-oil internal revenues, oil export mechanisms, the return of foreign oil companies, dam projects, and the rollout of the ASYCUDA automated customs system at border crossings.
On salaries, Sabah said al-Zaidi personally informed Barzani that he had issued instructions to the federal Finance Ministry to release Kurdistan Region payroll funding regularly and without discrimination —a long-contested point between Baghdad and Erbil that has repeatedly disrupted public sector payments in the region.
On the oil file, foreign companies operating in Kurdistan had demanded formal security guarantees from Baghdad following recent attacks targeting oilfields in the region. Al-Zaidi, according to Sabah, gave those guarantees personally.
A high-level delegation from the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources, accompanied by representatives of the foreign oil companies, is also scheduled to travel to Baghdad after the Eid al-Adha holiday to negotiate the terms of resuming exports and reach a final agreement, Sabah said.
Shiite Coordination Framework lawmaker Mukhtar al-Moussawi, speaking from the federal side, described the talks as achieving "notable progress" and reflecting "a shared political will" to stabilize ties and support al-Zaidi's government. He did not rule out a "new phase" of cooperation with Erbil if the current momentum holds.
The Baghdad talks also brought Barzani before Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi, Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zaidan, and State of Law coalition head Nouri al-Maliki.
The KDP, the dominant party in the Kurdistan Region, backed al-Zaidi's nomination as prime minister earlier this year and secured commitments from him to resolve outstanding Baghdad-Erbil disputes, guarantee the region's constitutional budget share, and implement Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, the long-stalled provision governing the status of disputed territories, including the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
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