Iraq votes to lift sanctions on Kurdistan region banks

The Iraqi parliament today voted to lift sanctions imposed on banks in the Kurdistan region over an independence referendum, Reuters reported, quoting two main Iraqi TV channels.

Iraqi lawmakers approved that the sanctions on Kurdistan banks to be lifted after they had “fulfilled their purpose by enforcing federal controls on the Kurdish banking industry,” a copy of the resolution read, as quoted by the Baghdad-based Al-Sumariya TV.

In November, the Central Bank of Iraq called on all Iraqi banks in the country to halt their operations in the Kurdistan Region indefinitely. It also stressed that the violating banks, would no longer receive foreign currency transfers from the Iraqi central bank.

The sanctions included restrictions on dollar and foreign currency transfers and sales to four Kurdish-owned banks by the central bank in Baghdad.

The move was seen as part of punitive measures taken by the Iraqi government against the Kurdistan region following the vote for independence which was held on 25 September, despite the opposition of Iraq, neighboring countries, and others including the United States. The central government in Baghdad has said that the vote, which delivered an overwhelming yes for independence, is “illegal.”

A ban on direct international flights to and from the Kurdistan region, also imposed in retaliation for the referendum, is still in place. In October, the Iraqi forces dislodged Kurdish fighters from several disputed areas including the oil region of Kirkuk.

On Thursday, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, a refuted recent statement made by his Iraqi counterpart, Haidar Al-Abadi, over the handover of Kurdistan’s oil exports to Baghdad.

Late last week, Al-Abadi announced that the Kurdistan government had agreed to hand over all its oil exports to the Iraqi authorities exclusively through the state-run SOMO company.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF), which was held in Switzerland’s Davos, the Iraqi PM said that Iraq’s economy would flourish “if the oil prices fluctuates,” vowing to abide by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s recent agreement to control oil prices.