10.1 |
Reconstruction: March 2003 to June 2004
•
agree
finance for Iraq’s reconstruction, preferably using the Multi-Donor
Trust
Fund;
and
•
note the
Paris Club process for addressing Iraq’s external debt
problems.
791.
The Annotated
Agenda stated that many donors felt excluded from the
Madrid
process,
“disaffected by the lack of a clear political process and
disinclined to pledge
before it
is sorted out”. There were a number of issues to resolve before UK
objectives
could be
achieved:
•
clarity on
financing needs;
•
a clear
timetable to Iraqi sovereignty;
•
a clear
financing mechanism;
•
agreement
on the role of the IAMB;
•
engaging
IFIs and “quality donors” to ensure reconstruction was
effective;
•
a more
inclusive approach to managing the Conference; and
•
a credible
UK pledge to leverage others.
792.
If the
Conference did not deliver the necessary international support, the
US might
need to
fund “the major requirements for 2004 with limited help from
Coalition partners,
including
the UK”.
793.
The AHMGIR
agreed that Ministers and Mr Blair should lobby their
counterparts
on the
lines proposed.435
794.
The AHMGIR
also agreed that the CPA should be funding projects in
CPA(South).
UK funding
was small compared with US funding, and the Reserve was already
under
pressure.
795.
The UN and
World Bank presented the main findings of their Joint
Needs
Assessment
(JNA) to the Conference’s Core Group (the United Arab Emirates, the
US,
the EU and
Japan) on the same day.436
The JNA
estimated that Iraq’s “overall stock of
reconstruction
needs” over the period 2004 to 2007 was US$36bn. In addition, the
CPA
had
estimated that US$20bn was needed in critical sectors not covered
by the JNA,
including
security and oil. Iraqi oil and tax revenues and private sector
financing would
reduce the
need for external financing.
796.
Baroness Amos
wrote to Mr Boateng on 3 October, to propose that DFID
could
provide up
to £130m from its core budget for financial years 2004/05 and
2005/06, as
part of a
UK pledge at Madrid.437
That figure
included £70m from DFID’s contingency
reserve,
£50m from funds reallocated from other middle-income countries, and
the
existing
planned provision for Iraq.
435
Minutes, 2
October 2003, Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation
meeting.
436
UN, Press
Release, 2 October 2003, UN/World
Bank Present Iraq Reconstruction Needs To Core
Group.
437
Letter Amos
to Boateng, 3 October 2003, ‘Iraq Financing’.
137