Regional Finance Ministry denies receiving federal budget transfer

Shafaq News / Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Finance issued a clarification on Tuesday regarding the transfer of the budget and financial dues by the federal government.

In a statement, the ministry asserted, "no financial amount has been transferred by the federal government to the bank account of the Ministry of Finance in Kurdistan or the Central Bank branch in Erbil. Additionally, neither the Iraqi Ministry of Finance nor any government institution has received any official communication regarding the budget and financial dues for the region."

The ministry further affirmed that they will officially and transparently announce the amount upon its transfer by the federal government. It also urged citizens not to believe "irresponsible media outlets that disseminate misleading news, playing with the emotions of the employees".

This comes despite the announcement by Kurdistan Region's government of reaching an agreement on employees' salaries with the federal government. Omed Sabah, the Chief of Cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government, who led a special governmental delegation to Baghdad, stated to Shafaq News Agency, "We reached an agreement after a meeting between Kurdistan Region's delegation and the federal government in Baghdad regarding the implementation of the budget law to send financial dues to Kurdistan Region. In this context, a joint memorandum was signed between the two delegations, and funding for Kurdistan Region is set to commence immediately."

Following this development, Jotiar Adel, the Kurdistan Regional Government Spokesperson, confirmed that the scheduled date for the transfer of financial dues from Baghdad is this week.