A senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Ghiath al-Surji, has confirmed that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is still refusing to hand over its internal revenues to the federal treasury, despite earlier promises and agreements on how these funds should be shared.
In a statement to dinaropinions.com, al-Surji said,
“The Kurdistan Regional Government’s refusal to transfer its internal revenues is one of the main reasons behind the ongoing financial tension between Baghdad and Erbil. This issue has contributed to salary delays, poor public services, and makes it harder for Baghdad to deal with falling oil revenues by developing other financial resources.”
He explained that the region continues to hold onto its own revenues, even though previous agreements clearly stated that these funds should be handed over as part of the federal budget.
Al-Surji added,
“The lack of transparency in how the region manages its revenues prevents the federal government from planning properly. This only increases citizens’ suffering — people are dealing with delayed salaries and weak public services.”
He also said that Baghdad is trying to diversify its income and rely less on oil, but these efforts are being slowed down by long-standing structural problems.
“The first problem is the absence of clear rules for controlling and transferring revenues,” he noted. “The second is weak transparency in how money is handled inside the region.”
Al-Surji stressed that Iraq’s budget and economy cannot fully recover until these core issues are solved.
“As long as the region keeps holding back revenues, it reduces the federal government’s ability to function properly,” he said.
