SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Finance and Economy announced Monday that nearly 25,000 civil servants in Erbil have received their April salaries through the “My Account” project, utilizing 84 ATM machines. Plans are underway to double the number of civil servants participating in the KRG’s “My Account” digitalization initiative in the coming months.
“We are pleased to announce that in the past few days, nearly 25,000 civil servants in Erbil have received their April salaries digitally through “My Account” project after registering in the banking system,” read a statement from the KRG’s Finance Ministry.
The announcement from the KRG’s Finance Ministry emphasized ongoing efforts to double the number of public sector employees who will receive their salaries digitally in the coming months. This initiative involves the participation of all civil servants in a digitalization project through banks, with the aim of integrating them into the “My Account” project by year-end.
The ministry revealed that a total of 84 ATMs were utilized by KRG beneficiaries to successfully withdraw their salaries.
“Our goal is to install 1000 ATM machines throughout the entire Kurdistan Region by the end of the year, facilitating easy access to salaries for civil servants,” added the statement.
On February 21st, the Iraqi Federal Court ruled in favor of allowing civil servants in the Kurdistan Region to digitalize their monthly payments through Iraqi state-owned banks. Consequently, the Kurdistan Region’s “My Account” digitalization project has become a contentious issue among civil servants, with a large number of them preferring to be paid directly through federal banks, fearing potential delays in salary payments and lacking trust in the project.