After a 32-year lull, the World Bank included Iraq anew to its list of loan beneficiaries. During a donor conference in Amman, Jordan, the lender announced that the insurgency-torn nation will receive $500 million in soft loan for infrastructure projects over the next two years. Iraqi planning minister Barham Salih revealed that Japan also has plans to spend $3.5 billion in low-interest loans for similar projects.
Salih refrained from declaring triumph concerning the purpose of the Amman conference, saying that he would rather wait for the time when donors would indeed make good their pledges. Since the 2003 Madrid meeting, the donor community has vowed to devote $32 billion in loans and grants to Iraq?s recovery but, according to the minister, it has so far only delivered $7 billion. Salih called on the international community to send in cash, insisting that "the time has come to deliver on promises and disburse the grants promised to Iraq" because "the aspirations of the Iraqi people for a better life cannot be delayed much longer." He maintained that the country, despite its fledgling institutions, can certainly handle the massive influx of donor cash and is ready to take up the leading role in Iraqi reconstruction efforts.
Sources:
World Bank agrees $500m Iraq loan (Guardian Unlimited)
Iraqis Press Donors for Billions More in Reconstruction Aid (The New York Times)
Iraqi Minister Slams Shortfall In International Donations (The Associated Press)
