1. SULAIMANI – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) introduced
a new electronic payment system on Monday (October 10) that will
be used to modernize the region’s current method of distributing
wages to government employees.
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and Deputy Prime Minister
Qubad Talabani were the first government employees to have their
electronic cards and biometric data registered at an inaugural event
for the new system that will be supervised by the Ministry of
Finance.

2. The new service will allow government employees to receive their
monthly salaries by using an electronic card after they also register
their names and information in the electronic system.
The service also plans to tackle the issue of “ghost employees” to
keep track of spending and names on the KRG’s payroll.

3. “As part of reforms in the Kurdistan Region, today, we took another
step by announcing a special database for government employees
to register their names,” KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani
said. “The system will help to reveal the names of those who have
two salaries illegally.”
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters the KRG Deputy Prime Minister
Qubad Talabani said “From now on we will realize who are the real
KRG employees.”
The new payment system was likely put in place in response to the
lack of concrete government data on the exact number of civil
servants employed by the KRG and to eradicate chances for
individuals to take advantage of the old, manual method of
payment disbursement.
KRG authorities are now encouraging employees, who number
around 1.4 million, to register for their individual electronic cards at
76 registration offices, within the next three months.

4. A number of operation centers have been established to oversee
the process and tackle issues that may come along.