Friday, May 11, 2007
$140 bn. for Basrah reconstruction
Reconstruction
(Addustour Newspaper) - 10 MAY - The Finance Ministry has allocated 140 billion dollars in additional budget funding to speed up reconstruction in the governorate in 2007. Basrah Governorate Advisor, Ihsan Abd Al Jabar, said that this money from the Finance Ministry is for the governorate’s service sector. It is the governorate’s duty to follow how this money is spent and to oversee the projects which this money is used for.
Labels: Basrah, Ministry of Finance, reconstruction funds, service sector
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
International conference for Iraq donors held in Istanbul
Reconstruction, International
(BI-ME) Iraqi authorities should have a bigger role in administering foreign reconstruction funds, an Iraqi Cabinet minister told international donors at a meeting in İstanbul this week. Iraq's Minister of Planning Ali Baban reflected frustration among Iraqi officials who have been struggling to revive the economy in a perilous security environment. Ali Baban spoke to representatives of about 20 nations and international organisations who gathered for a conference on rebuilding Iraq.
The World Bank and the UN have created a fund to channel donations to Iraq, and two-dozen donors have committed US$1.6 billion."We think the Iraqi government should be given a larger role in choosing projects and administering the fund," Baban said. "We are asking you to listen to the priorities of the Iraqi government more than you did previously." In Baghdad earlier this month, Baban said inflation, unemployment and poor services were major challenges to the Iraqi economy.
"Our struggle in the economic arena has the same weight as our struggle in the security arena," Baban said. "Our country was exposed to destructive wars and sanctions... Such conditions devastated our infrastructure and also hampered our productive sectors." He said nearly 80% of the US$10 billion allocated to investment projects in Iraq's national budget this year would go to the armed forces, a sign of the heavy burden that Iraq's violence is imposing on its population. This past weekend marked the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
"Our struggle in the economic arena has the same weight as our struggle in the security arena," Baban said. "Our country was exposed to destructive wars and sanctions... Such conditions devastated our infrastructure and also hampered our productive sectors." He said nearly 80% of the US$10 billion allocated to investment projects in Iraq's national budget this year would go to the armed forces, a sign of the heavy burden that Iraq's violence is imposing on its population. This past weekend marked the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Labels: donors, Istanbul, reconstruction funds
