Allies pledge $30 billion to recovery effort
KUWAIT: Iraq received pledges of US$30 billion, mostly in credit facilities and investment, on Wednesday from allies, although this fell short of the $88 billion Baghdad says it needs to recover from three years of war.
Donors and investors gathered in Kuwait to mull ways to rebuild Iraq’s economy and infrastructure as it emerges from a ruinous conflict with Islamic State militants who seized almost a third of the country before being beaten back.
“If we compare what we got today to what we need, it is no secret, it is of course much lower than what Iraq needs,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told a news conference. “But we know that we will not get everything we want.”
The US and UN say that failure to help Iraq rebuild could unravel its gains against the Islamic State since economic and social problems that bred sectarian conflict, creating political space for jihadists, would persist.
For his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the conference “an enormous success”.
Although the US said on Tuesday it was extending a $3-billion credit line to Iraq, it has not provided any direct government assistance. It instead hoped it could count largely on Gulf allies to shoulder the burden of rebuilding Iraq.
Washington is also counting on a Saudi-Iraqi rapprochement to weaken Iran’s influence there.
Saudi Arabia will provide $1 billion through its Saudi Fund for Development and $500 million in export credit, Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir told the conference.
“Kuwait will earmark $1 billion in loans to Iraq and will commit to another $1 billion as investments,” Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah said at the gathering.
Qatar pledged $1 billion in loans and investments and the United Arab Emirates pledged $500 million but added that there were already $5.5 billion in private sector investments in Iraq.
Turkey will give Iraq $5 billion in credit lines, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, and other allies made smaller pledges.
Those sums are dwarfed by the more than $88.2 billion that Iraqi officials have said would be necessary for reconstruction after years of war.