ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday called on the Iraqi federal government to meet its responsibilities by financing the Region’s civil servant salaries, stressing that Erbil has honored its side of obligations.

The Kurdish premier arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Monday afternoon to partake in the wake of Hamza Allawi, son of former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

“We have fulfilled our side of obligations as the Kurdistan Region, what remains depends on the stance of the federal government and I hope they also carry out their duty,” Barzani told reporters after leaving the wake when asked about the salary issues.

Salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants and the Region’s share of the federal budget have long been a point of contention between the federal and regional governments.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in early February announced reaching an agreement with the Iraqi federal government to finance the salaries of the Region's civil servants for the entirety of 2025 "without any issues.”

Nonetheless, Baghdad has yet to disburse the Region’s salaries for the month of April as of the writing of this article. The New Region has learnt that the KRG plans to send a delegation to Baghdad to address the issue if the federal government fails to finance the salaries by Tuesday.

Barzani’s remarks come amid a deepening liquidity crisis and fluctuating oil revenues in Iraq which have forced the Baghdad government to reach into long-idle tax trust funds to cover public employee salaries.

READ MORE: Iraq taps dormant tax funds to pay salaries amid oil price woes, budget deficit

Years of conflict and unresolved issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and economic sanctions and pressure on Erbil by federal authorities, have pushed employees in the Kurdistan Region to live from paycheck to paycheck.