KRG seeks improved coordination with Baghdad on welfare salaries

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, an official from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) revealed ongoing efforts to enhance collaboration with Iraq's federal Ministry of Labor, to improve the distribution mechanism of social protection network salaries for Kurdish citizens.

Nazmi Othman, Deputy Director General of the Labor Directorate in the KRG ministry, told Shafaq News that the federal government allocates welfare salaries for Kurdish citizens as part of the Kurdistan Region's budget, a practice he described as "unacceptable", explaining that financial allocations for the social protection network should be entirely separate from the Kurdistan Region’s budget, in line with the budget law framework.

“Coordination continues to reach an agreement ensuring that Kurdish citizens are included in the social protection network without their salaries being affected by the region's specific budget… A mutual agreement between the two ministries would resolve the social protection network issue in the region,” he revealed.

Othman further clarified that “if the agreement is adopted within the federal budget, payments to eligible recipients would be made directly by the Kurdistan Regional Government.”