Kurdistan
Sulaimani Governor Haval Abubakir in a press conference in Sulaimani on September 24, 2023. Photo: Dr.Haval Abubaker/Facebook
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sulaimani Governor Haval Abubakir on Sunday called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to expedite paying the salaries of the Region’s civil servants, stressing that there should be “no excuse” for any further delay in providing the salaries.
Iraq’s Council of Ministers last week agreed to lend the KRG 2.1 trillion Iraqi dinars to pay the salaries of its civil servants. The amount will be paid in three equal installments and will cover the salaries of September, October, and November.
Public sector employees in the Kurdistan Region are yet to receive their salaries for July and August, resulting in the workers of several sectors going on strike in Sulaimani, including teachers and health workers.
The KRG’s finance ministry announced on Sunday that it will begin the distribution of July salaries on Monday, with all public sector employees across all ministries set to receive the payment by October 8.
“Suspending the payment of civil servant salaries helps in achieving the plot which is currently threatening the Kurdistan Region’s entity through turning our people against our own government,” Abubakr told reporters on Sunday.
The KRG has blamed Baghdad for the delay in paying the salaries, accusing the federal government of pursuing a policy of “starving” the people of the Kurdistan Region.
Abubakr urged the KRG to provide the salaries as soon as possible as it has affected all walks of life in the Region, while also thanking public sector workers for continuing to carry out their duties despite going unpaid for nearly 90 days.
“Obtaining funds [for salaries] is the duty of the government, not the people or civil servants. The people have not been made partners in profits, and therefore should not be made partners in losses. There should no longer be any excuses to not provide salaries for more than a 30-day cycle,” he added.
The Kurdish government has failed to pay its civil servants on time and in full for nearly a decade due to the financial crisis. Economic woes in the Kurdistan Region have worsened in recent months after Turkey suspended the flow of Kurdish crude oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to its Ceyhan port in March following a ruling from a Paris arbitration court, causing the KRG billions of dollars in losses.
Iraq passed its highly-contentious budget bill for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 in June, which includes a record $152 billion in spending, of which the Kurdistan Region’s share is 12.6.
Under the Erbil-Baghdad loan agreement, the KRG’s share in the 2023 federal budget will be used to pay back the loans. If Erbil’s share was not enough to cover the loans, its dues will be settled using its allocations within the 2024 budget.
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