KRG Official: Baghdad Promised to Pay All 2025 Salaries but Has Yet to Send August Wages

Peregraf- Rebaz Hamlan, Assistant to the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said the Iraqi Prime Minister has pledged to allocate all of this year’s salaries for the Kurdistan Region.

Hamlan added that the KRG has been in “intensive contact” with Baghdad for several days, aiming to ensure the distribution of two months’ salaries before the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to take place in 20 days.

Despite this, the Iraqi Ministry of Finance has not yet transferred the August salary for KRG employees, even though Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had earlier decided to release it.

According to Hamlan, following the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region, Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Sudani, in a phone call with KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, had promised to disburse the August salary at the beginning of October, but that commitment has not been fulfilled. He added that Baghdad now intends to delay sending the August payment until next week.

This comes as frustration grows among KRG employees. Although oil exports resumed nearly a month ago and the KRG Ministry of Finance has already submitted 120 billion Iraqi dinars in internal revenue to Baghdad, the Iraqi federal government has yet to send the overdue August salary—while in the rest of Iraq, October wages are already being distributed.