KRG Council of Ministers responds to Iraq Prime Minister
The Presidency of the Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers responds that the Iraq Federal Government has not met its obligations in accordance with last December’s agreement. The Council of Ministers revealed the amounts received from Baghdad within Iraq’s Federal Budget Law 2015.
According to the agreement, the Kurdistan Region is committed to export 550,000 barrels per day in return for a budget entitlement of 1.33 trillion Iraqi dinars, IQD, per month, about one billion US dollars, from the federal government. The agreement was approved within the framework of Iraq Federal Budget Law 2015.
Following is the text of the statement:
In an interview on 29 May Iraq Prime Minister Dr. Haider al-Abadi on Al-Iraqiya TV talked publicly about the Kurdistan Region’s share of the federal budget that includes amounts for civil servant salaries. The Kurdistan Region Presidency of the Council of Ministers deems it is necessary to publicly affirm the following:
The Iraq Prime Minister in the television interview said that since November 2014 the Federal Government has been providing the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, with its civil servant salaries, suggesting the KRG itself is the cause of the salaries not being paid.
The Region’s civil servant salaries total IQD 850 billion per month. In accordance with the December agreement, the KRG has not received this amount for any month. The federal government sent only IQD 250 billion for January, IDQ 491 billion for February, IQD 527 billion for March. As for April, it sent IQD 488 billion, after deducting 10 percent.
The KRG affirmed, and the Iraq Ministry of Oil in its formal reports confirmed, in April and May the Region fulfilled its obligations of exporting amounts of oil in accordance with the Iraq Federal Budget Law 2015. The federal government, however, has not fulfilled its obligation according to the law to send IQD 1.33 trillion per month. This amount includes also support for Peshmerga forces.
The federal government agreed to send US$500 million each for October, November, and December 2014, a total of US$1.5 billion. Only US$1 billion, however, has been received.
In the interview, Prime Minister al-Abadi regrettably neglected to offer respect for and discuss the financial burden on the Kurdistan Region caused by the greatly heightened security situation, due to the war against terrorism and hosting more than one and half million refugees and internally displaced people.
Though the Kurdistan Region has been actively participating in the federal government, including active involvement in national defence, since 2005 the federal government has not funded the Peshmerga forces. Further, the Region has not been fully receiving its agreed share, 17%, of national revenue. Only for 2014, the deficit as stated in a financial statement of the Iraqi parliament amounts to IQD 16 trillion.
Despite these facts, the KRG reaffirms it continues to seek solutions to these financial issues through dialog and negotiations within the framework of the Iraq Federal Budget Law 2015.
Presidency of Council of Ministers
Kurdistan Regional Government
