In the latest meeting of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Council of Ministers, no agreement was reached regarding the salaries issue. The Ministry of Finance reported that the regional treasury currently contains only 16% of the total funds required for public sector salaries. Prime Minister Masrour Barzani expressed optimism about an upcoming visit by an Iraqi delegation to help resolve the salary crisis.

The KRG Council of Ministers convened today and discussed the issue of paying public sector salaries. Awat Sheikh Janab, the KRG Minister of Finance, presented a financial report and stated that the Region needs 820 billion dinars to distribute salaries, while the treasury currently holds only 160 billion dinars. This means that the monthly salary requirement in the Region is 980 billion dinars, and the available funds only cover 16% of it — leaving an 84% shortfall.

As a result, the Council of Ministers did not issue any decision regarding the salaries and emphasized that all efforts must be directed toward reaching an agreement with Baghdad.

During the meeting, Masrour Barzani stated that he had held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani and the Head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, and decided to send a high-level delegation within the next couple of days to negotiate a solution for the salary issue.

In a press conference following the meeting, Prime Minister Barzani declared:

“If we fail to reach an agreement with Baghdad regarding the salaries, whatever resources we have within the Kurdistan Region will be used — through reducing expenditures in every possible way — to ensure the public is not left without support. If we are unable to fully provide the salary rights in time and as needed, we will certainly do our best within our capacity to distribute what we can.”

He also stated that there had been an intention to resume salary payments even through partial disbursement, depending on the revenues available to the KRG. If no agreement is reached with Baghdad, the Region will rely on partial salary distribution according to its own revenue capacity.

Revenue Sources of the Kurdistan Region (as per the Iraqi Ministry of Finance report):

• Oil revenues for the first four months of 2025 amounted to 1 trillion and 166 billion dinars, averaging 300 billion dinars per month.

• Oil revenues for the first four months of 2025 amounted to 1 trillion and 568 billion dinars, averaging 390 billion dinars per month.

• Baghdad funds: Not received

• Coalition funds: 20 billion dinars