Paying for Iraq's Reconstruction: An Update
Abstract
This report updates the information in the Congressional Budget Offices (CBOs)January 2004 paper Paying for Iraqs Reconstruction. As in the original paper, this update focuses on Iraqs budget situationincluding its possible future oil revenuesand on the countrys need to repay existing debt, the amount of foreign aid pledged or provided for reconstruction, and the status of ongoing reconstruction projects. The update relies on published information from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, as well as various reports and data from the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, the Treasury, and State, including the U.S. Agency for International Development. Events over the past three years suggest the following observations about the state of reconstruction in Iraq: B Spending on security forces and security-related measures has been far greater than U.S. and Iraqi officials anticipated at the end of 2003.B Iraqs future fiscal situationin particular, its ability to pay for reconstruction and other infrastructure investmentsremains heavily dependent on oil prices and oil exports. B Because of higher oil prices, Iraqs oil revenues between 2004 and 2006 have been about 50 percent higher than CBOs January 2004 report anticipated. However, the countrys oil production and exports have not met the targets set by Iraqi officials. B Iraq has negotiated substantial reductions in about half of its foreign debt. Negotiations on the other half of its debtowed principally to Persian Gulf nationsare just beginning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 08, 2006
- Accession Number
- AD1134764
Entities
People
- Eric J. Labs
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office