3 days ago
Ruling clarifies: Federal-KRG disputes cannot impede salary payments
Shafaq News/ On Friday, Iraq's Federal Supreme Court ruled that disputes between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cannot be used as grounds to delay or suspend salary payments, KRG Cabinet Secretary Amanj Raheem disclosed.
Quoting a February ruling, Raheem highlighted that disagreements over Articles 12 and 13 of the 2023 Federal Budget Law—relating to oil exports and non-oil revenues—must not obstruct monthly payments to employees, retirees, and welfare recipients in the Kurdistan Region.
'This decision reaffirms the court's stance on insulating citizens' livelihoods from political conflict,' Raheem, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, said in a statement.
Earlier, Parliamentary Finance Committee member Raed al-Maliki confirmed that the Ministry of Finance halted salary disbursements to the KRG, citing the Region's failure to transfer required oil and non-oil revenues to the federal treasury, despite the KRG receiving its entitlements.
The KRG Ministry of Finance rejected the justification, asserting that Baghdad is constitutionally obliged to continue salary payments to civil servants, retirees, and beneficiaries of the social safety net. It also criticized the federal government for neglecting reparations to survivors of the Anfal campaign and chemical attacks, calling such omissions a breach of duty.
In response, the federal Finance Ministry published data indicating that the KRG exceeded its designated budget share by failing to submit full oil and non-oil income, with joint reports from the federal and regional audit bureaus substantiating the findings, leading to the suspension of transfers.
The salary dispute comes amid deeper budgetary tensions between Baghdad and Erbil. Since oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through Turkiye's Ceyhan port were suspended in 2023, the federal government shifted to issuing monthly loans instead of direct budget payments.
Despite court intervention, the funding impasse continues, with both sides accusing each other of failing to meet their fiscal responsibilities under the national budget law.
