Mona Megalli
Reuters
May 27, 2003

ABSTRACT

An anonymous U.S. Official told Reuters that the United States will urge Iraq’s creditors to consider debt relief at the G8 summit, without going into detail on its immediate rebuilding needs. “We are not in a position where we can quantify that in a way that we can make a big push to donors. It will take a few more weeks at least. […] Debt reduction is all we can ask for, because we are not in a position to help Iraq explain exactly what it needs yet. We are still trying to get a firm sense of issues like what the real debt position is of the country.”

An official working on Iraq’s external debt for the U.S. Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance said documents needed to assess the debts of Iraq’s state and central banks had been lost in looting. “It could take up to a year or two to deal with the debt issue because it doesn’t matter when it is done, it matters how it is done, it has to be accurate,” A second ORHA official earlier said the process of collating Iraq’s external debt was proving harder than anticipated. “You have some written documents from the central bank, and the two main state banks Rafidain and Rasheed, but they are guesses, not fine accurate numbers. When you add them up they don’t total.”