The Sudanese advisor explains the mechanism for distributing salaries to Kurdistan employees
Mawazine News – Baghdad,
Advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, announced the mechanism for distributing employee salaries after the Federal Court’s decision to oblige the localization of the salaries of all employees of government agencies in the center and the Kurdistan Region in federal banks.
Mazhar Muhammad Saleh said, in a statement followed by Mawazine News, that the mechanism for distributing employees’ salaries is based on:
1- On a principle called (salary localization), that is, the employee chooses the bank (governmental or licensed private) in which the employee wishes to deposit his salary and in a bank account in his name. Then the employee’s department replenishes that employee’s account (monthly) with the bank he chose himself and opens his account there, usually a savings account.
2- The employee (whose salary is with the bank) is provided with an electronic debit or payment card issued by the bank agent (which is a payment company that is responsible for providing the employee with an electronic debit or payment card, such as (Key Card, Sawj, or Al Nakheel Company…etc.), that is, the company Payments are determined by the bank in which the employee’s salary is settled.
3- The employee’s account with the bank is linked to a credit card.
4- The employee has the right to withdraw his salary in cash through the card, in whole or in part, and through automated teller machines, especially POC (point of cash) machines, which are widespread. Everywhere is managed by the licensed private sector.
The employee who holds the electronic card also has the right to pay digitally through the phone or point of sale devices in shops, restaurants, etc.
During the Federal Court session, Wednesday (February 21, 2024), the President of the Federal Court, Jassim Muhammad Abboud, issued a decision requiring the defendants to oblige the Prime Minister of the Federal Government and his counterpart in the region to localize the salaries of employees of all ministries, governorates, and entities not affiliated with a ministry, and all employees of other entities, retirees, and beneficiaries. The social protection network is held by government banks, and is deducted from the region’s share in accordance with the budget law for this year and the coming years.
The court referred to “obligating the monthly budget of Kurdistan Region employees to be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Finance, and obliging the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers to hand over all oil and non-oil revenues to the federal government.”
“The decision to localize the salaries of the region’s employees is a final and binding decision,” according to the Federal Supreme Court.
During the meeting of the Iraqi Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, with the Finance Committee of the Iraqi House of Representatives, she confirmed that “the release of salaries for employees in the Kurdistan Region during the current month is subject to submitting lists of names, and we have stipulated localization in order to disburse them during the coming months.”
