Labor Minister plans boost in special needs grants and social welfare for KRI

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Kwestan Mohammed announced that a ministry delegation will visit Baghdad in early August to discuss increasing financial grants for people with special needs and redistributing social welfare salaries for eligible families in the Kurdistan Region (KRI).

During a press conference, Mohammed stated, "Social welfare salaries, which have been cut since 2015, should be reinstated and distributed like they are to the two million families in other regions of Iraq," emphasizing that "families living in poverty should also receive benefits from the national budget."

Notably, the plan to increase financial grants for people with special needs and redistribute social welfare salaries in the KRI faces several challenges, including budget constraints, administrative hurdles, and political resistance. Ensuring equitable distribution and accurately assessing eligibility also complicates the process.

In addition, with the oil revenues halted and a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration to suspend oil export through the Ceyhan pipeline, Kurdistan's primary income now comes from taxes collected at border crossings with neighboring countries, including Iran and Turkiye, two of Iraq's key regional trading partners.