SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has set an ambitious goal to enroll over one million public employees in its ‘My Account’ initiative by the end of the year. This initiative aims to digitize salary payments and pension disbursements, aiming to modernize the salary payments in the region.
The KRG Department of Media and Information announced the plan, revealing that the Iraqi Islamic Bank has joined the initiative alongside existing partners BBAC, Cihan, NBI, and RT banks. Launched in October 2023, ‘My Account’ is expanding its reach and aims to transition from traditional salary payment methods to a more efficient digital banking system.
Currently, over 240,000 bank accounts have been opened for civil servants, with 120,000 employees already issued payroll cards. However, the KRG’s workforce exceeds 1.2 million employees.
The announcement comes in the wake of a directive from the Iraqi Finance Ministry requiring the presence of bank accounts and electronic payment mechanisms for the disbursement of salaries to Kurdistan Region employees.
Last month, the Iraqi federal court ruled that the Iraqi government should disburse the monthly salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants through federal banks. In return, the KRG must hand over all its oil and non-oil revenues to the central government. This ruling follows the Kurdistan Region’s loss of the ability to independently export its oil following an arbitration court ruling last year.
