<p style="text-align:left">The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Finance issued a statement on Sunday, March 18, saying 590 billion IQD is needed to pay all of civil servants with the current fiscal policy.<br /> KRG announced in early 2016 that it would cut government employee salaries by 15 to 75 percent, depending on position and salary bracket, as part of austerity measures to deal with the ongoing economic crisis.<br /> The Iraqi government spokesperson, Saad Hadithi, told Iraq’s state TV Al-Iraqiya on Sunday that the money will be given to the workers of education and health ministries.<br /> With the money given to the KRG by the Federal Government, salaries of education and health ministries will be paid in the next two days, said Hadithi.<br /> KRG’s Financial Ministry, however, said the money will be distributed across all ministries and not exclusively health and education departments.<br /> The KRG’s economic issues began early in 2014 when then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stopped budget payments to Erbil over its attempts to sell its oil independent from Baghdad.<br /> The subsequent war against IS in northern Iraq and influx of over 1.8 million displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugees added to the region’s economic troubles.<br /> Salaries for KRG employees have been plagued by delays since 2014 and Kurdish authorities have repeatedly said they cannot make payments due to the crises affecting the region.<br /> Reporter's code: 50101</p>