Kathleen Ridolfo
RFE/RL Iraq Report, Vol. 6, No. 40
September 25, 2003

The reconstruction of Iraq was a major focus of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s annual meeting in Dubai this week where senior Iraqi officials have lobbied hard for international support ahead of next month’s international donors’ conference for Iraq.

IMF head Horst Koehler told a press conference on 24 September that the international community must work together towards that rebuilding. “I think the most important thing . . . is that the leaders of the world now really set aside their disputes over Iraq and for a consensus so that the international community can unite and the World Bank and IMF and others can go to Iraq and work together and work with the Iraqi people,” Koehler said.

World Bank President James Wolfensohn, meanwhile, told reporters that he would meet with Iraqi officials in Dubai on September 24 to discuss a draft estimate of costs for the reconstruction efforts. Wolfensohn declined to tell reporters what that estimate was, but said U.S.-published estimates ranging from $50 billion-$70 billion were “in the ball park,” Reuters reported. He said that the estimates would be completed in early October.

According to ft.com, U.S. administrator in Iraq Bremer said that the World Bank estimate will cost $60 billion-$70 billion over the next four to five years, the website reported on 23 September.

Iraqi interim Planning Minister Mahdi al-Hafiz reportedly told the World Bank and IMF in Dubai that the cost for rebuilding Iraq might be as high as $100 billion for the 2004-07 period, ITAR-TASS reported on 24 September.