Oil and internal income revenue in 75 days?

2025-07-14 10:53:01

Public sector employees in the Kurdistan Region have not received their salaries for 75 days — equivalent to two and a half months. The monthly salary requirement is 998 billion IQD, which means for 75 days, the total required is approximately 2 trillion and 495 billion IQD. If an employee’s monthly salary is 1 million IQD, then over 75 days, the salary owed would be 2 million and 500 thousand IQD.

According to the reports from the Iraqi Ministry of Finance and the audit bureaus of both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region for the first four months of 2025:

Internal revenues for those 75 days amounted to 730 billion IQD
Oil revenues were 980 billion IQD
Allied (donor) funds were 50 billion IQD
Meanwhile, governmental non-salary expenses in the same 75 days totaled only 395 billion IQD

Sources of Revenue in the Kurdistan Region

The Kurdistan Region derives its income from four main sources:

Funds from Baghdad
Internal revenues
Oil revenues
Allied financial aid

1. Funds from Baghdad

In 2025, the last monthly transfer from the Iraqi Government to the Kurdistan Region was used to cover April’s salary expenses. The following amounts were transferred:

For April: 954,514,000,000 IQD on 13/5/2025
For March: 954,880,467,779 IQD on 26/3/2025
For February: 957,925,880,078 IQD on 12/3/2025
For January: 958,012,332,759 IQD on 4/2/2025

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance, a total of 4.117 trillion IQD was sent to the Kurdistan Region over the first four months of 2025. However, a portion of that was deducted for loans and salary advances.

2. Internal Revenue

Based on reports from the Iraqi Ministry of Finance and audit bureaus:

For Jan–Apr 2025, Kurdistan's total internal revenue was 1.166 trillion IQD, or roughly 292 billion IQD per month
However, the KRG claims its internal revenue is about 320 billion IQD monthly, of which 65 billion IQD is spent on security forces

Total internal revenue for the past 6 months: 1.752 trillion IQD
Internal revenue for the 75 days in question: 730 billion IQD

3. Oil Revenue

KRG officials claim oil revenue is zero, but:

In May, the Kurdistan Region produced an average of 299,705 barrels per day, sold at $33 per barrel
This means monthly revenue reached approximately $297 million, or about 400 billion IQD

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance:

In the first four months of 2025, Kurdistan generated 1.568 trillion IQD in oil revenue, or 392 billion IQD monthly
However, a portion of this goes to oil companies and operating costs

If we take the Ministry's figure of 392 billion/month, then for 6 months: 2.352 trillion IQD, and for 75 days: 980 billion IQD

4. Allied Financial Aid

Monthly support from international allies: 20 billion IQD, mostly to support the Peshmerga
Over 6 months: 120 billion IQD
For 75 days: 50 billion IQD