Rebaz Hamlan said that the decision will be made based on the amount that the KRG brings in from independent oil sales, local taxes, income from customs duties, and whatever is sent by Baghdad.
He noted that the KRG carries a heavy debt burden and must balance paying public servants with servicing debt, which he said costs $253 million per month.
During 2020, the KRG struggled to pay salaries to public sector workers, missing five monthly disbursements entirely and cutting four others by nearly a quarter. Government employees have had their pay cut by twenty-one percent each month so far this year.
Passed in late March, the 2021 Federal Budget Law includes an agreement where the KRG sends oil and a portion of its internal revenue in return for its share of the budget.
Neither side has implemented their end of the bargain.
The salary cuts have had a significant effect on the economy of the Kurdistan Region because of the KRG’s role as the Region’s most important employer.
In a report released on June 7, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) found that monthly average employment income declined by 31 percent between March and December 2020, from 526,570 Iraqi dinars ($363) to 361,099 Iraqi dinars ($249), in large part because of the cuts.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is the largest party in the power sharing arrangement that makes up the KRG cabinet and is often portrayed as the face of the unpopular cuts.
In the interview, Hamlan tried to spread that blame around by arguing that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Change Movement (Gorran) are both part of the government and therefore must share in the consequences of its decisions.
Reporter's code: 50101