Despite one payment, Baghdad-Erbil budget stalemate continues
Officials on both sides say a July financial transfer was a one-off deal, as political and technical disputes hold up further federal budget payments for Kurdistan.
WASHINGTON/ERBIL - The Iraqi federal government's recent transfer of 200 billion Iraqi dinars ($138 million) to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was a one-time payment rather than the start of monthly budget disbursements, according to multiple officials from both sides.
The financial transfer on July 10 initially raised hopes that the Iraqi government might be implementing a Cabinet order from mid June that authorized both monthly payments of Kurdistan's share of the federal budget going forward and backdated payments for the first half of 2021. Such a breakthrough deal had the potential to ease financial pressure on the KRG, helping it to pay salaries to public-sector employees, maintain social stability, and provide reassurance to oil companies invested in Kurdistan that have suffered from payment delays.
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