KRG Rejects State Council Opinion on Revenues, Masrour Barzani Sends Letter to al-Sudani

Peregraf- Head of the Diwan of the Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers, Omed Sabah, announced on Monday that Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has formally sent a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, requesting that the opinion of the State Council on revenue and financial issues between Baghdad and Erbil not be taken into consideration.

Speaking at a press conference, Sabah said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is prepared to hand over its share of the federal treasury for August and September in exchange for the payment of salaries for those two months. However, he added, Baghdad has not yet approved the disbursement of salaries.

Sabah explained that under a temporary arrangement, the KRG agreed to hand over 120 billion dinars per month from its internal revenues to the federal government for three months. But the Iraqi government sought an advisory opinion from the State Council on the deal—a move the KRG strongly opposes.

"Unfortunately, the State Council, which is merely an advisory body whose decisions are not binding, especially on the KRG, has interpreted the federal treasury’s share of the region’s internal revenues in a way that contradicts the constitution and the law," Sabah stated.

He noted that the Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers decided to send a formal letter to Baghdad rejecting the council’s stance. The letter, signed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, urges the federal government to disregard the advisory opinion.

Sabah stressed that the KRG seeks to resolve financial disputes through direct agreement with Baghdad. "Our option is to reach an agreement between the two governments on internal revenues, just as we agreed on oil," he said. "We have presented good constitutional and legal proposals, and we hope the federal government will respond positively."