SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Tuesday that his government was making every effort to restructure its revenue system and reduce public expenses.
Barzani chaired a meeting of the Kurdistan Region’s Supreme Economic Council on Tuesday to discuss ongoing efforts to present a comprehensive draft budget bill for 2021 as well as reforms, according to a KRG statement.
The premier said the KRG was working to restructure its revenue system, reduce public expenses, reorganize government staff, and eliminate redundancies in the government’s payroll system, the statement read.
“This process aims to ensure fairness in the system and compensation for hardworking employees,” Barzani said.
“The government remains committed to increasing its productivity and competitive edgy by removing system barriers in its bureaucracy,” he added, noting that the 2021 budget bill should strive to improve the conditions for doing business while taking into consideration the Region’s unique challenges.
Both Minister of Finance and Economy Awat Sheikh Janab and Minister of Planning Dara Rashid presented detailed reports on current financial conditions in the Kurdistan Region and details of the draft budget bill during the meeting.
The KRG Council of Ministers will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss details of the draft budget bill and will submit to the parliament for debate in the near future, the statement said.
On December 7, the KRG said the supreme economic council would meet this week to approve the first draft budget bill.
KRG Spokesman Jotiar Adil said the draft bill was prepared in cooperation with the ministries and that all the ministries had shown their opinion about it.
“The KRG believes this bill … is to provide transparency, equality for the people,” Adil said in a press conference.
The Kurdistan Region has not prepared its budget since 2014, when Baghdad cut off the Region’s share of the federal budget, which Erbil has been heavily reliant on to pay its civil servants and implement service projects.
