Kurdistan Region to pay October salaries after Baghdad funding

Shafaq News – Erbil

The Kurdish Ministry of Finance and Economy will begin disbursing public sector salaries for October following the release of funds by Iraq’s Ministry of Finance.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry explained that salary payments will run from Monday through Wednesday, October 31.

Last week, the Kurdish ministry transferred non-oil revenues for October to Iraq’s Ministry of Finance. It confirmed that 120 billion dinars (approximately $83.9M) were deposited in cash into the ministry’s account at the Central Bank branch in Erbil.

The transfer follows an August 26 decision by Iraq’s Council of Ministers linking salary payments for Kurdistan Region employees to Erbil’s remittance of 120 billion dinars from its internal revenues. The measure aligns with a subsequent oil agreement between Erbil and Baghdad, under which the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has repeatedly described itself as fully committed to transferring its share of non-oil revenues to the federal treasury — a requirement it says should eliminate Iraq’s pretext for withholding salaries.

Read more: Kurdistan’s salaries: A lingering injustice beyond numbers