ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi and Kurdish officials engaged in high-level discussions in Erbil on Sunday to strengthen cooperation and to resolve persistent financial issues. The Iraqi delegation, led by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who also serves as chair of the ministerial council for economy, and Finance Minister Taif Sami, met with the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) economic council, chaired by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. Discussions focused on "strengthening cooperation" between the federal government and the KRG, particularly on key financial issues such as civil servant salaries, the Region's budget share, and customs and tax policies, which are considered vital to Iraq's economic stability, according to a statement from the Iraqi finance ministry. The KRG PM’s office stressed that "the federal government must treat all the provinces of Iraq fairly," adding that it should fight for the rights of the Kurdistan Region as it does for Basra and Baghdad. The office further emphasized that "respecting the constitution and agreements must serve as a foundation to solve all the issues and disputes." The prime minister's office described the meeting as taking place in "a positive environment, where opinions were exchanged sincerely… on a constitutional basis." The meetings are set to continue for two days “where discussions focus on mechanisms for promoting financial cooperation between parties and accessing sustainable solutions to pending financial issues,” according to the Iraqi finance ministry. Baghdad has paid the salaries of Kurdistan Region’s civil servants for seven months of this year, albeit with delays. The Iraqi government has pointed to repeated problems such as duplicate names in the payroll list, as well as issues with names on the Kirkuk payroll in July. The KRG has failed to pay the salaries of its civil servants on-time and in-full for a decade due to a financial crisis that worsened when its oil exports stopped in March 2023 following a court ruling on a dispute between Iraq and Turkey over the Kurdistan Region’s independent oil sales. Erbil currently is dependent on local income sources and its controversial federal budget share. “The results of [the meeting] are expected to be in favor of the employees, civil servants, and pensioners,” read a statement from the KRG’s finance ministry. Farmer’s representatives from different areas of the Kurdistan Region gathered in front of the meeting location, demanding that the government restrict the import of some foreign agricultural produce as they say they have been promised before. “We do not have any support from the government…we only want to have a market,” Aram Omar, representative of Penjwen’s farmers told Rudaw’s Kavin Hussein on Sunday.
