Kurdistan Region publishes seven-year financial review, accuses Baghdad of breaching agreements

ERBIL, Iraq — The Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Finance and Economy released a comprehensive review on Tuesday evening documenting the region's financial management, projects and reforms over the past seven years. Speaking at a launch ceremony in Erbil, Minister Awat Sheikh Janab said the ninth cabinet, which took office in 2019, had implemented its fiscal reform package in stages. The reforms included enacting a Reform Law, restructuring the customs system, establishing a legal framework for corporate activity, and upgrading tax collection and salary disbursement mechanisms, according to the minister. Sheikh Janab accused the federal government in Baghdad of failing to honor any of its agreements with Erbil, saying that stance hardened after Kurdish oil exports came to a halt. He said Baghdad has not acted as a partner in resolving the region's financial difficulties across three successive federal cabinets, and has transferred budgets well below the amounts agreed in bilateral understandings.