Latest news with #JamalKocher
Shafaq News
2 days ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
Kurdistan's salary crisis escalates ahead of Eid
Shafaq News/As Eid al-Adha approaches, more than a million public servants in Iraq's Kurdistan Region face yet another holiday without salaries—caught in the crosshairs of a deepening standoff between Baghdad and Erbil that underscores unresolved constitutional, political, and economic rifts. The Iraqi government recently suspended salary payments for May 2025, accusing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of failing to deliver oil and non-oil revenues as mandated by the federal budget law and a Federal Supreme Court ruling. The Ministry of Finance warned of legal action to hold the KRG accountable, laying blame squarely on Erbil for disrupting monthly payments and social welfare programs. The row has intensified following the KRG's announcement of two major energy deals with American firms worth over $110 billion to develop gas and oil infrastructure in the Region. Baghdad views these agreements as violations of its sovereign authority, while Erbil insists the contracts fall within its constitutional right to enhance local revenues and diversify the Region's economic base. Responding to the federal decision, the KRG's Ministry of Finance and Economy said Baghdad owes Erbil over 4.22 trillion dinars (about $3B) and has yet to release the remaining 9.11 trillion dinars (around $6.5B) of Kurdistan's 2025 allocation. Kurdish officials argue that Baghdad's revenue calculations ignore the KRG's operational expenses and the local funds used to cover salary gaps. They also point to the federal government's failure to compensate victims of the Anfal genocide, which they say adds to long-standing grievances. 'The federal government is trying to create unconstitutional roadblocks,' the KRG stated, citing a February 2025 ruling by the Federal Supreme Court directing Baghdad to disburse salaries directly to Kurdish employees regardless of political disagreements. Erbil has framed the latest salary freeze as a political tactic that targets ordinary citizens and threatens regional stability. Since 2014, salary payments to the Kurdistan Region have shifted from fixed budget allocations to ad hoc 'emergency advances' subject to Baghdad's oversight. Each budget cycle has become a flashpoint for constitutional disputes, driven by the absence of a federal oil and gas law since 2007 and competing interpretations of revenue-sharing rules. For many Kurdish families, the result is a familiar cycle of uncertainty and hardship. Despite multiple court rulings, federal disbursements remain entangled in political maneuvering. Jamal Kocher, a Kurdish member of Iraq's financial committee, criticized Baghdad's decision as 'poorly timed and unjust,' warning that it effectively punishes over 1.2 million employees who are uninvolved in high-level political disputes. Kocher stressed that 'a series of steps must be taken to resolve this issue,' urging Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 'respond to Iraqi citizens in a manner that promotes fairness. It is unacceptable for employees in Iraq to receive their salaries while those in the Kurdistan Region face cuts.' He also emphasized the need to engage the Federal Supreme Court to take further decisions on the matter. Political analyst Hamza Mustafa described the crisis as a symptom of deeper institutional dysfunction. 'The salary crisis is just the tip of the iceberg,' he said. 'The deeper issue is Iraq's failure to pass an oil and gas law for nearly two decades. As always, it's the citizens who pay the price.' The United States has called for calm, urging both Baghdad and Erbil to resolve the standoff through dialogue and constitutional mechanisms. A US State Department official told Shafaq News in an exclusive statement, 'A swift resolution will show that Iraq is prioritizing its citizens' welfare and create an environment attractive to investors.' He added that resolving the crisis could also signal readiness to reopen the suspended Iraq-Turkiye oil pipeline. This appeal follows recent high-level meetings in Washington, where KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials. The salary freeze comes at a delicate moment in Iraqi-Kurdish relations. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani faces competing pressures: demands from political blocs in Baghdad to assert federal control, and calls from international partners to ensure stability and fair treatment for the Kurds. Analysts believe al-Sudani is keen to avoid further escalation ahead of the holidays, with back-channel negotiations possibly underway to explore temporary fixes. However, without structural reforms—such as the long-stalled oil and gas legislation—many fear the cycle of crisis, court rulings, and emergency payments will continue to define Baghdad-Erbil relations. With public frustration mounting and Eid just days away, all eyes are now on whether Baghdad and Erbil can move beyond legal sparring to reach a sustainable fiscal settlement—or whether yet another round of crisis budgeting awaits the Kurdistan Region.
Shafaq News
3 days ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
Iraq-KRG salary row escalates: Baghdad cites revenue holdout
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, Iraq's federal finance ministry attributed its inability to fund May 2025 salaries in the Kurdistan Region to the Regional government's failure to transfer oil and non-oil revenues to the state treasury. In a statement, the ministry explained that funding had been allocated in accordance with the Kurdistan Region's quota under the federal budget law. However, the Regional government's decision to withhold its revenues caused expenditures to exceed the limits set by both the budget law and a ruling by the Federal Supreme Court. The ministry noted that this overextension obliges it to take legal steps, as required by the court's decision and the provisions of the current three-year federal budget. Despite the dispute, federal authorities reassured the public that they remain committed to timely wage disbursements. Salaries for May were fully covered for all eligible recipients, it confirmed, with funding secured independently of both oil and non-oil revenue borrowing. Jamal Kocher, a member of the parliamentary finance committee, questioned with Shafaq News the timing and suitability of the ministry's decision, warning that more than 1.2 million public employees in the Kurdistan Region would be directly affected. In response, the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Finance and Economy called on the federal government to continue disbursing salaries for civil servants, retirees, families of martyrs, Anfal victims, and social welfare recipients, on par with the rest of Iraq. The ministry also urged Baghdad to avoid introducing what it described as 'unconstitutional barriers to the salary funding process''. Notably, the salary dispute between Baghdad and the KRG has remained unresolved for years, re-emerging during each annual budget cycle. The federal government conditions the transfer of the Region's budget share on the handover of oil revenues—a process that stalled in 2023 after exports through Turkiye's Ceyhan port came to a halt. Since then, salary payments from Baghdad have been treated as advances rather than regular allocations. In February, the Federal Supreme Court issued a binding decision requiring the federal government to pay public sector salaries in the Kurdistan Region directly, bypassing the KRG. The ruling came after repeated delays in disbursing wages to the Region's employees.
Shafaq News
5 days ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
Dollar sinks in Iraq: MP cites market forces
Shafaq News/ Declines in the US dollar rate against the Iraqi dinar were not the result of government action, an Iraqi PM announced on Tuesday. Speaking with Shafaq News, Jamal Kocher, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, attributed the drop in the dollar's value to multiple factors, most notably the slump in trade activity and the resulting decline in demand on the parallel market. He warned that the government's failure to disburse payments to contractors, coupled with a halt in project execution and growing public tension, has further reduced market demand for dollars. Observers say global economic turmoil, rising trade restrictions, and declining commercial activity have spilled into Iraqi markets. The weakened global demand for imports has reduced the need for dollars, contributing directly to its lower value locally.
Shafaq News
01-05-2025
- Business
- Shafaq News
$60 oil threshold: Iraq's budget could be limited to salaries
Shafaq News/ Iraq could face a severe financial crisis if oil prices drop below $60 a barrel, limiting the government's ability to fund anything beyond operational expenses, a member of the parliamentary finance committee warned. Jamal Kocher told Shafaq News on Thursday that Iraq's operating budget stands at 90T IQD ($68.5B), and any significant drop in oil revenues without compensating output would push the country into a difficult economic situation. 'In such a scenario, the government would only be able to cover operational expenditures, including public salaries,' Kocher said, adding that declining oil prices are already complicating the government's efforts to submit the 2025 budget to parliament. Yesterday, a cabinet source told Shafaq News that the Iraqi government is considering canceling the 2025 budget altogether due to falling oil prices, which have widened the country's projected deficit. On April 16, the committee had warned of the risks of not adjusting Iraq's assumed oil price in the budget, initially set at $70 per barrel. Kocher noted that when the budget law was passed, market prices were above that benchmark.
