Head of the Kurdistan Justice Group (KJG) caucus in the Council of Representatives Salim Shushkay said that Erbil needed hand over oil and customs income to Baghdad before the cash transfers outlined in the budget law can occur.

He argued that Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) supported passage of the budget so that it would not be blamed by the people, but had little intention of ever implementing its terms, so that doing so now would not be an easy thing to do, NRT reported.

Fateh Alliance lawmaker Abas Atifi said that the KRG had shown little indication that it was going to send oil to Baghdad.

He said that there would be a serious investigation if federal authorities moved first and started sending cash transfers to the KRG without receiving oil from Erbil.

The KRG is supposed to receive 9.5 trillion Iraqi dinars ($6.5 billion) from the budget, which will be disbursed in monthly increments, in return for submitting 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Iraq's oil marketer SOMO for export and a portion of the income derived from customs duties at international border crossings with Iran and Turkey.

The federal government will be able to cut off funds in the event of non-compliance.

The hesitancy on the part of federal authorities, and the pressure on them from lawmakers like Atifi, is likely the result of the KRG’s refusal to implement the 2019 Federal Budget Law, which had similar terms to the previous law.

A delegation from the KRG is expected to visit the Iraqi capital this week to address the impasse.

Reporter's code: 50101