Austerity and resistance: the public salary crisis in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Winthrop Rodgers

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: A decade-long financial crisis in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has hit public servants the hardest. In response to retaliatory budget cuts by Iraq’s federal government over Kurdish independent oil exports, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) initiated a range of austerity measures seeking to maintain financial solvency. This policy included the non-payment and delay of salaries, a formal salary withholding scheme, dramatic reductions in public sector recruitment, and the suspension of promotions for existing workers. It resulted in extensive economic, social, and political consequences that have contributed to the breakdown of the KRI’s social contract and eroded the power of the two ruling parties. Despite its local importance, this issue has attracted little academic and international media attention, which this paper attempts to address.

JEL-codes: J01 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2025-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ara and nep-lab
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