Iraq’s Finance Minister has instructed the ministry’s accounting department to begin procedures for transferring July salaries to public employees in the Kurdistan Region.
Salary distribution for federal employees across Iraq is expected to finish on Monday. Members of parliament have already received their payments. Some employees in federal presidencies remain, but their salaries have been funded and are expected to be paid during the day.
After that, the main outstanding payment will be the Kurdistan Region’s July salary bill.
A source at Iraq’s Ministry of Finance mentioned that Finance Minister Falh Sari had notified the accounting department to start the transfer procedures.
However, the instruction does not mean the money will be released immediately. The ministry first needs to secure the required funds. Officials are currently working to collect the necessary cash.
The Kurdistan Region needs more than 961 billion Iraqi dinars for salaries covered by Baghdad. This figure does not include contract teachers and contract employees, who require another 43 billion dinars.
Baghdad is expected to transfer about 840 billion dinars. It will deduct around 120 billion dinars in locally generated revenue from the total amount.
Sari reportedly told a senior Kurdish official on Sunday that the ministry was working to gather the funds and hoped to send the salaries within days.
Earlier, officials had indicated that the transfer could happen on Monday or Tuesday. However, the timing remains uncertain.
The payment could still arrive within the next two days. It may also be delayed until Thursday or even next week.
Kurdistan Region employees are now waiting for Baghdad to complete the funding process and release the July salary transfer. The final schedule will depend on how quickly Iraq’s Finance Ministry can secure the money needed for the payment after payments finish across the rest of Iraq.
