Washington, Jan 30: The World Bank established a trust fund for Iraq that will be used to finance its reconstruction. The vote by the bank's executive directors was made at the request of donor countries, who wanted some of their contributions for Iraq's rebuilding to be distributed though the Washington-based development bank, said Christiaan Poortman yesterday, the World Bank's vice director responsible for the region.
The institution planned to finance its first projects in Iraq in the coming weeks, including technical aid programmes such as the training of government officials in accounting and financial planning.
According to the bank's Iraq director, Joseph Saba, the United States has so far contributed 10 million dollars for the fund and other countries have signalled their readiness to contribute although Saba would not give exact amounts for their pledges.
In the autumn, the World Bank estimated Iraq's reconstruction needs at 55 billion dollars. About 32 billion was pledged at a donors’ conference in Madrid.
How much money would flow through the trust fund and how much would go to Iraq directly from the donors remained unclear.
Yesterday's decision came at a time when the World Bank does not have a presence in the country. Its Iraq bureau is currently located in Amman.
Poortman said the question of when the bank would return to Baghdad depends on the security situation of the volatile country. ''As soon as possible,'' he said, without naming a date.
The World Bank was preparing programmes in the areas of technical help, education, infrastructure and societal development that would cost 400 million to 600 million dollars, it said. Their execution depends upon how much money flows into the bank's trust fund, Poortman said. Bureau Report