ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Monday published a financial report highlighting what it said were severe shortfalls in federal budget funding, zero investment allocations, and continued salary delays for civil servants, amid ongoing disputes with Baghdad over revenue-sharing.
According to the report published by the KRG’s Department of Media and Information, the Kurdistan Region received “only 41 percent of entitlements and zero for investment projects,” totaling just over 24.3 trillion Iraqi dinars (around $18.5 billion) out of 58.3 trillion dinars (around $44.4 billion) allocated to the Region over the past three years.
During the same period, Iraq’s total federal budget stood at 622.6 trillion dinars (around $475 billion), of which the Kurdistan Region’s legally allocated share was 58.36 trillion dinars (around $44.5 billion). In practice, only 24.32 trillion dinars (around $18.5 billion) were disbursed, the report said.
The report described the situation as an “investment blockade” and a “massive funding gap.”
It further noted that, despite Baghdad allocating 165 trillion dinars (around $126 billion) for investment expenditures nationwide, the Region's share was “Zero Dinars,” resulting in the “halt of vital infrastructure projects” - a situation the report called “a dangerous precedent.”
The report added that the Region’s actual funding amounted to “a meager 3.9 percent of Iraq's total budget, reflecting a clear injustice against the citizens of the Region.”
In June 2023, Iraq passed its controversial budget law for 2023, 2024 and 2025, setting the Kurdistan Region’s share at 12.6 percent based on earlier population estimates that had been contested.
The 2024 federal budget totaled nearly 212 trillion dinars (around $141 billion), with the Kurdistan Region’s share - based on the 12.6 percent estimate - reaching nearly 21 trillion dinars (around $14 billion), covering both operational and investment expenditures.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region resumed on September 27 following a tripartite agreement between the KRG, the federal government in Baghdad, and international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Region.