ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Monday directed government institutions to fully transition to electronic payment methods within seven months, and ordered the establishment of an appropriate mechanism for the private sector. “All ministries and government institutions shall transition from cash payments to electronic payment,” read a statement from PM’s office, adding that “each ministry or government institution must submit a comprehensive plan for this transition by December 31, 2024, with full implementation to commence by July 1, 2025.” The prime minister also ordered for the transition - dubbed Tawtin (localization) by Baghdad - to be made for the private sector. Sudani tasked the labor and social affairs ministries as well as the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) to “establish an appropriate mechanism” to implement electronic payment systems for private sector employees in collaboration with “select private sector institutions.” The order is in-line with the government’s financial and economic reform plan to digitize government services and improve the salary disbursement process, allowing public employees to receive payments directly through the banking system. Although the prime minister’s statement did not mention the Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) launched a My Account initiative last year to also digitize the disbursement of civil servant salaries. On Sunday, the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) announced on X “the signing of a contract with My Account project to localize salaries of employees of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.” TBI said that this step is in accordance with decisions of the federal supreme court and directives from Sudani “regarding the necessity of the Trade Bank of Iraq’s participation in the process of localizing the salaries of our people, employees of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.” An informed source from My Account told Rudaw on Monday that four ATM machines will soon reach Sulaimani and 10,000 debit cards from their project through TBI are ready for the Region’s employees. On October 27, the KRG issued a formal request to its ministries for the My Account project to proceed unimpeded, following reports that the process has been obstructed in Sulaimani and Halabja provinces. Arez Khalid contributed to this report.
