KRG Delegation Arrives in Baghdad to Discuss Salaries, Oil And Revenues

PUKMEDIA

Stacks of Iraqi dinars.

A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) arrived in Baghdad on Sunday, 24 August 2025, to hold discussions with the Iraqi federal government officials on salaries, oil, and revenue-sharing arrangements.

According to information obtained by PUKMEDIA, the KRG delegation is scheduled to meet with representatives of the Iraqi Financial Monitoring Bureau and the Ministries of Planning and Finance. The talks aim to reach a mutual understanding on the issue of non-oil revenues.

One of the main objectives of the visit is to prepare a joint report that could help establish clarity on the non-oil revenues of the Kurdistan Region. The KRG maintains that, under the Iraqi Constitution and the federal budget law, it retains 100% of revenues generated by its ministries. However, it has expressed willingness to transfer 50% of customs and income tax revenues, while handing over 100% of revenues generated by federal institutions operating in the Kurdistan Region.

The federal government, by contrast, argues that under Iraq’s Financial Management Law, regional ministries are obliged to transfer 50% of their total revenues in addition to 100% of customs and tax revenues. This divergence has become the central point of contention between Baghdad and Erbil, following earlier disputes over oil exports.

So far, only an agreement on the transfer of 50% of customs revenues has been reached. Other key issues — including income tax and the broader scope of local revenues — remain unresolved.

Salary payments for public sector employees in the Kurdistan Region have long been a contentious issue between Erbil and Baghdad. The dispute mainly centres around the KRG's oil revenues and non-oil revenues.

Public employees in the Kurdistan Region are still awaiting their June salaries, despite the fact that the calendar has already entered August.



PUKMEDIA