PM:09:34:24/08/2021
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SULAIMANI — Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Spokesperson
Jotiar Adil said on Tuesday (August 24) that public sector workers at Ministry
of Health will be paid their monthly salaries in full on Wednesday for the second
time in more than a year.
Adil said in a post on Facebook that the salaries of the
other ministries will also be distributed within a certain period of time.
Earlier on Tuesday, a source from the Ministry of Finance
told NRT that the monthly stipend of 200 billion Iraqi dinar ($137 million) has
not been transferred to the Kurdistan Region yet.
The KRG first received the stipend in July under an
agreement with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
The agreement, however, does not resolve major budget
disagreements between Erbil and Baghdad, which have prevented the
implementation of the 2021 Federal Budget Law. KRG officials are keen to note
that the stipend is not the Region’s budget share.
On August 14, KRG Representative in Baghdad Faris Isa told
NRT that the money is expected to be transferred to the Region on August 25,
adding that it is "guaranteed” until the end of 2021.
During 2020, the KRG struggled to pay its employees, missing
five monthly disbursements entirely and cutting four others by nearly a
quarter. Government employees had their pay cut by twenty-one percent during
the first six months this year.
Workers were paid in full in July for the first time in more
than a year.
The salary cuts have had a significant effect on the economy
of the Kurdistan Region because of the KRG’s role as the Region’s most
important employer.
(NRT Digital Media)