On Tuesday, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani participated in a special launching ceremony for the e-Psule project, a government project that will make it easier to pay bills online.

The event was attended by Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) Governor Ali al-Alaq, and a large number of investors, business owners, managers, and bank representatives.

“This is a major national achievement for all the people of Kurdistan and also a starting point so that all of Iraq can benefit from this experience,” Prime Minister Barzani said in his opening speech.

“The main goal of this project, and similar previous projects, is to better serve citizens and make services easier for them. That may be easy to say, but it requires a great deal of work.”

He underlined that, to accelerate development, the Kurdistan Region’s economy must be transformed in line with developed countries by digitizing services, especially in the economic, financial, and banking sectors.

“This will help both government services and the people of Kurdistan, and hopefully later all of Iraq.”

As part of its mission to shift the Kurdistan Region toward a cashless society, the KRG has been digitizing the payroll process for its 1.2 million public sector employees since September 2023 by helping government workers register with local banks through the MyAccount program.

“Our first step was enabling every citizen to have a bank account. The MyAccount project was not only for salary payments, but also to build links between citizens and government, citizens and banks, citizens and businesses, so that people can benefit more from banking services. At the same time, banks will have more funds to lend if citizens need loans or to finance financial activities and projects,” Prime Minister Barzani said.

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“Once citizens have bank accounts, services that depend on the banking sector become easier. The e-Psule phase builds on the MyAccount project. The purpose of e-Psule is to make it easier for citizens to pay digitally for government services. There will be no need to stand in long queues; these burdens will be removed, and citizens can interact with government services more comfortably.”

During the event, Prime Minister Barzani met with CBI Governor al-Alaq, as well as representatives of a number of Iraqi and Kurdistan Region banks and e-wallet providers participating in the MyAccount and e-Psule projects.

They stressed the importance of improving the banking system and enhancing cooperation and coordination between the KRG, the CBI, and the banks involved in the two projects.

Prime Minister Barzani thanked CBI Governor al-Alaq and his team for facilitating cooperation and coordination with the KRG and for supporting the KRG’s reforms to advance and modernize the banking system. He also commended the Central Bank’s reforms aimed at strengthening and improving Iraq’s banking sector.

CBI Governor al-Alaq praised Prime Minister Barzani’s vision on banking reform and the digitalization of public services, and reaffirmed his readiness to provide full cooperation and coordination with the relevant entities of the KRG.