(Photo: The Kurdistan Regional Government)
KRG urges Baghdad to release salaries, citing oil export compliance and shared revenues
ERBIL — The Kurdistan Regional Government on Wednesday renewed its call for the federal government in Baghdad to release public sector salaries, citing full implementation of the trilateral oil export agreement and ongoing transfers of non-oil revenues.
The appeal came during a regular session of the KRG Council of Ministers, where officials assessed the region’s financial status and reviewed steps to pay overdue salaries for August, September, and the remainder of 2025.
According to a statement issued after the meeting, the Council instructed the Ministry of Finance to issue guidance for facilitating the transfer of the Kurdistan Region’s share of federal non-oil revenues to Baghdad.
The session opened with a financial presentation by the Director General of Accounting at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, outlining the region’s monthly revenues and expenditures. The KRG said this data had already been submitted to the federal Ministry of Finance.
Following the presentation, the Minister of Finance and Economy, the cabinet secretary, and the head of the Council’s Diwan offered additional clarification. The cabinet then approved several recommendations and instructed the Ministry of Finance to proceed with implementation — including the formal transfer of non-oil revenues.
Despite being halfway through October, public employees in the Kurdistan Region have yet to receive their salaries for the previous two months.
The KRG reiterated its request for the federal government to authorize salary payments, highlighting that more than 3 million barrels of Kurdish oil have been sold via SOMO, with revenues returned to Baghdad. According to the acting Minister of Natural Resources, this fulfills the region’s obligations under the oil export deal.
The cabinet said the trilateral agreement — signed between Erbil, Baghdad, and international stakeholders — has been implemented “well and without shortfall.”
Tensions between the regional and federal governments resurfaced earlier this year when Baghdad halted transfers to the Kurdistan Region in May, accusing Erbil of exceeding its budget allocation and withholding revenue data. Transfers resumed in July after the two sides struck a deal that required the KRG to deliver 230,000 barrels per day of crude oil and remit 120 billion dinars in non-oil revenues. Funds for May and June were subsequently released.