Kurdistan set to send July payrolls to Baghdad today
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, a source in the Ministry of Finance and Economy of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) revealed that July payrolls have been prepared and will be sent to Baghdad.
The source informed Shafaq News Agency, "The audit of all employees' July salary list has been completed electronically. If there are no technical issues, the printed copy will be finalized and sent to Baghdad today."
On Tuesday, the Federal Government sent the salaries of the security forces in the Kurdistan Region, but they have not yet been disbursed in Al-Sulaymaniyah and the Garmian administration due to the workload at government banks. Baghdad has also not yet sent the June salaries to the Ministry of Electricity under the Kurdistan Parliament's Presidency.
In recent months, Kurdish officials in the Regional Government explained that the delay is not due to political or legal issues. Rather, it stems from technical difficulties and the verification process of Peshmerga and Internal Security Force member lists.
Oil exports previously autonomously funded the Kurdistan Region, partly covering salaries. However, a disagreement between the Federal Government and Turkiye, the oil export conduit, has halted this revenue stream 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.
