ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leaders in a meeting on Monday agreed on dialing up efforts to resolve the outstanding financial issues between Erbil and Baghdad.

Top leaders from the two ruling parties met in Erbil’s Pirmam on Monday to discuss their positions on the financial issues between Erbil and Baghdad going forward, with both sides agreeing that "all efforts must be intensified toward resolving the issue and the provision of the Region's financial entitlements and salaries, with all necessary steps being taken within the constitution with cooperation between the two sides," according to a statement released following the meeting.

The KDP and PUK also discussed the importance of improving their relations to better protect the Kurdistan Region as an entity and its achievements, as well as to tackle challenges and difficulties facing the Region, the statement noted.

The meeting came as the KDP had already given Baghdad a “final opportunity” to send civil servants’ wages, coming after the KDP bloc boycotted a parliamentary session over the issues on Saturday. The party had previously given Iraq a 48-hour deadline that was later extended based on promises made to them by authorities in Baghdad.

In a letter addressed to the KRG in late May, Iraqi Finance Minister Taif Sami said that Baghdad was “unable to continue funding the Region” for the rest of the year, arguing that Erbil has already exceeded its share of the annual budget, a move prompting the Kurdish government and civil servants to file complaints to the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court against the decision by the federal government.

The suspension of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servant salaries by the Iraqi finance ministry has sparked outrage among the Region’s public and officials alike, who have slammed the decision as “political.”

Authorities in Baghdad and Erbil have held numerous meetings in both capital cities to resolve the issue once and for all, but to no avail, a serious crisis forcing Kurdish officials to ponder alternatives, including a possible withdrawal from Iraq’s political process.

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as well as representatives of the Coordination Framework and the Badr Organization, wrote a letter to President Barzani urging the KDP not to withdraw from the political process in Baghdad and to show patience, adding that the Iraqi government will try to send one month's worth of pay to the Region's public sector in the coming week, The New Region reported on Saturday.

Speaking on the state of the negotiations, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani on Saturday said that both Erbil and Baghdad “have agreed on almost all the clauses” of a prospective agreement, with the most salient outstanding dispute being the daily amount of oil granted to the Kurdistan Region to meet local demand, with the former seeking 65,000 barrels while the latter offers merely 46,000.