Iraqi Finance Ministry Rebukes KRG for Unmet Salary Distribution and Revenue Commitments
Peregraf
The Iraqi Ministry of Finance has officially announced that it has completely financed the salaries of public employees in the Kurdistan Region for every month of 2024. Nevertheless, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not yet fully disbursed these salaries and has also neglected to transfer non-oil revenues to the Iraqi federal government, as mandated by law.
The Iraqi Ministry of Finance reaffirmed its commitment to sending monthly financial allocations to the KRG, “which is responsible for distributing salaries to its employees on a monthly basis”. In an official announcement, the ministry explained that the delays in salary payments within the Kurdistan region stem from the KRG's non-compliance with the Federal Supreme Court's ruling, which requires the domiciliation of salaries for public sector employees and pensioners in the Kurdistan Region in alignment with the Tawteen program of the Iraqi Federal Government.
The Iraqi Finance Ministry also pointed out that the KRG has not adhered to the requirement of transferring non-oil revenues, as outlined in paragraph (3) of the Federal Supreme Court’s decision. Audit balances show that these revenues amount to 4,350 billion dinars, which should have been handed over to the federal government.
The Iraqi Finance Ministry underscores that, in line with established protocols for financing expenditure units, it disburses monthly salary allocations to the KRG. Nevertheless, despite receiving complete funding comparable to that of federal government employees, the KRG has failed to distribute salaries consistently on a monthly basis. The Ministry of Finance reiterated that it is not accountable for these delays, which stem from the KRG’s failure to adhere to the Federal Court’s directives regarding the implementation of salary domiciliation for public sector employees and pensioners in the Kurdistan Region, as outlined in the Tawteen program of the Iraqi Federal Government.
The statement highlighted that the Iraqi Finance Ministry has funded salaries for the KRG employees as per Schedule (E) of the 2023 federal general budget, approved by the Iraqi Council of Ministers and the Iraqi Council of Representatives. These allocations cover a wide range of categories, including retirees, social protection beneficiaries, and both civilian and military employees.
Salary Allocations for the Kurdistan Region by the Iraqi Finance Ministry:
• 9,556,348 billion dinars for employees of civil departments and security forces.
• 130,931 billion dinars for salaries under the social protection network.
• 650,040 billion dinars for military retirees.
• 776,657 billion dinars for civilian retirees.
• 98,346 billion dinars for civilians affected by the Anfal campaign.
• 338,479 billion dinars for retired military personnel affected by the Anfal campaign.
• 10,721 billion dinars for grants to prisoners.
The Iraqi Ministry of Finance has allocated and spent a total of 11,561,522 billion dinars for the KRG public sector in 2024. Consequently, the monthly allocation amounts to approximately 963,460.1667 billion dinars. The KRG requires a monthly allocation of more than 950 billion dinars to ensure the payment of salaries for public employees and pensioners. Despite the Iraqi Federal government providing an average of over 960 billion dinars per month for the year 2024, the salaries for December 2024 have not yet been disbursed. The KRG has attributed this delay to Baghdad's failure to transfer the necessary funds for December 2024.
In summary, the Iraqi Ministry of Finance urged the KRG to guarantee the consistent and prompt disbursement of salaries, in accordance with the rulings of the Federal Supreme Court, in order to protect the rights of public employees and pensioner and uphold fairness in salary allocation.