The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) held its regular weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, chaired by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and attended by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani.

Prime Minister Barzani began the session by briefing the cabinet on the recent visit of a KRG delegation to Ankara. During the visit, the delegation met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other senior officials to discuss strengthening bilateral relations, the Kurdistan Region's strategic role in the region, and the need to resolve ongoing disputes with the federal government. Discussions also addressed the urgency of removing barriers to the Region's oil exports. On the situation in Syria, the meetings stressed the importance of safeguarding the rights of all its communities and ensuring peace and stability.

Financial Report Highlights Federal Government Shortcomings

In the meeting’s first agenda item, Chief of the Council of Ministers’ Office, Omid Sabah, presented a detailed report on the Region’s financial situation for 2024. Sabah highlighted several challenges, including the federal government’s failure to fully disburse the Kurdistan Region’s allocated budget.

Despite the constitutional right to receive salaries on par with other Iraqi regions and a Federal Supreme Court ruling mandating payment, the federal government disbursed only 10.752 trillion dinars out of the allocated 11.576 trillion dinars. To bridge the gap, the KRG used 960 billion dinars from its internal revenues, in addition to transferring the federal treasury’s share and funding public services and investment projects. Sabah noted that other allocations, such as operational and investment budgets, were entirely withheld by Baghdad.

Biometric Registration Progress

The Head of the Coordination and Follow-up Department, Abdul Hakim Khosrow, provided updates on biometric registration for salary recipients. He confirmed the adoption of a unique personal identification number by the Ministry of Planning and the completion of all data submissions to Baghdad. This step aims to address longstanding federal government concerns regarding employment numbers. Khosrow also praised the role of the KRG’s IT Department in implementing a digital salary payment system.

Digital Payroll System Set for Launch

The cabinet discussed progress on the "Salary Payment System Project," part of the broader biometric registration initiative. The project will digitize the payroll process and enable electronic submission to the federal Ministry of Finance starting in 2025, eliminating administrative delays and errors.

Cabinet Criticizes Federal Government

The KRG cabinet expressed disappointment over the federal government’s actions, which have left public sector employees in the Region without salaries for December, despite their counterparts across Iraq having been paid. The Council noted that the KRG had fulfilled all requirements, including submitting accurate payrolls and resolving all financial discrepancies.

The cabinet called on the federal government to release the remaining financial entitlements for 2024 and reiterated its commitment to protecting the rights of its employees and citizens.

The meeting ended with assurances that the KRG will continue to address these financial challenges while maintaining its efforts to implement reforms, including the digitization of payroll systems, to improve transparency and efficiency.