KRG welcomes decisions of joint federal and Regional economic councils
Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) welcomed the decisions and recommendations that emerged from the joint meeting of the Federal Ministerial Council for the Economy and the Kurdistan Region’s Economic Council.
KRG stated that Prime Minister Masrour Barzani chaired a cabinet meeting, with Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani in attendance. The main focus of the meeting was to review the outcomes of the joint session held in Erbil on September 8-9, between the Federal Ministerial Council for the Economy and the Kurdistan Region’s Economic Council.
The meeting aimed to discuss steps and procedures to implement the decisions made during the joint session, ensuring that the Federal Ministry of Finance has no reason to withhold or delay the payment of salaries to employees in the Region.
“The KRG Cabinet expressed its approval of the decisions and recommendations from the joint meeting and welcomed the federal government's decision to continue paying the salaries of employees in the Kurdistan Region who had been deprived of their wages due to administrative issues, including the lack of official job grades.”
The statement further noted that the KRG emphasized the need for relevant ministries to expedite the process of creating official job grades for unregistered employees. This process must consider all other points raised during the joint meeting, and updated lists of employees' salaries and job grades should be sent to the Federal Ministry of Finance by next week. In return, the federal government is expected to send the withheld portions of past salaries, ensuring that August salaries are distributed promptly and that preparations are made for the disbursement of September wages, aligning the pay structure with that of the rest of Iraq.
During the meeting, ministers from various departments, including Trade and Industry, Labor and Social Affairs, Agriculture and Water Resources, Interior, Natural Resources, Planning, and Justice, presented the topics they had discussed with their federal counterparts. These topics, which were part of the joint meeting's agenda, covered key areas such as agricultural timelines, export and import licenses, factory permits, company registrations, contractor classifications, border crossings, customs, oil and energy, and the banking sector.
The KRG Cabinet tasked the respective ministers with continuing their efforts in the joint committees between the two governments to complete the tasks assigned to them, aiming for mutual understanding that benefits all Iraqi citizens under the constitution.
Prime Minister Barzani expressed hope that “the positive atmosphere and the understandings reached during the joint meeting would serve as a foundation for a comprehensive solution to the remaining issues between the two sides,” reiterating the KRG’s commitment to “fulfilling its responsibilities and expressed hope that the federal government would respect the constitutional rights and federal structure of the Kurdistan Region.”
In conclusion, the KRG assigned its Economic Council the responsibility of approving the recommendations from the joint meeting and preparing for a follow-up session in Baghdad with the Federal Economic Council to continue discussions and work toward resolving outstanding issues.
