KRG objects to salary funds approved by Baghdad

Tensions between Baghdad and Erbil continue to escalate over the implementation of the Supreme Court’s injunction on the direct payment of KRG employee salaries by Baghdad.

Last month, Iraq Horizons covered the Supreme Court decision that mandates Baghdad to deposit salaries of KRG employees directly into individual bank accounts, known in Arabic as tawteen al-rawatib, or salary domiciliation. The federal Finance Ministry announced its intention to implement the ruling for March salaries once the necessary procedures including the opening of bank accounts were finalized.

On Tuesday, the KRG’s Ministry of Finance and Economy issued a stern statement asserting that completing these procedures would take significantly longer and urged the federal Finance Ministry to “avoid using impractical conditions as a basis for withholding the rightful dues of the Kurdistan Region.”

On Wednesday, the Federal Supreme Court attempted to resolve the matter by acknowledging in a press statement that “the domiciliation process requires a sufficient period of time to complete,” urging both parties to work together to expedite the process. The Court also noted that “employees whose salary domiciliation process has not been completed for technical reasons will be disbursed in cash until the full domiciliation process is completed.”