KRG Demands 14.14% Share in 2027 Budget, Accuses Baghdad of Census Violations

PUKMEDIA

KRG logo.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has called on the Iraqi federal government to recognise the Kurdistan Region’s 14.14% population share, saying it reflects the official results of the 2024 national census and should form the basis of the Region’s allocation in the 2027 federal budget.

In a statement, the KRG accused Baghdad of handling the census results unilaterally following the nationwide population census conducted on 20 November 2024, saying the process had been managed in violation of previous agreements and Council of Ministers decisions.

According to the KRG, the most significant breach was reducing the Kurdistan Region’s population share from 14.14% to 12.68%, which it said threatens the Region’s entitlement under the 2027 federal budget.

The KRG said the federal government had failed to honour several decisions aimed at jointly managing the census process, raising three main objections.

First, it said the federal authorities announced the census results before completing comparisons with the 1957 census records and sidelined joint census teams working in Kurdish areas.

Second, the KRG accused Baghdad of manipulating population figures by reducing the number of refugees counted in the Region, despite the KRG continuing to host and finance services for more than 500,000 people in the disputed areas.

Third, it said the federal government had withheld 13.8 billion Iraqi dinars allocated for census-related expenses in the Kurdistan Region, failed to provide raw census data, and ignored the Region’s official requests regarding the process.

The KRG said it would continue to insist that the 14.14% figure be reflected in the 2027 federal budget bill, warning against what it described as a repeat of previous financial pressure on the Region. It also rejected any reduction in citizens’ rights to employment, food rations and public services based on what it said were altered population statistics.



PUKMEDIA