Iraq intends to build new residential cities as part of a post-war rebuilding plan intended to bridge a widening house supply gap, the official news agency has said. 

The new cities will be similar to the $7.7 billion ‘Bismaya’ project near the capital Baghdad and are designed to provide low-cost houses to citizens, the agency said, quoting Adnan Al-Juhaishi, a member of the Parliament’s Service Committee. 

“There is  plan to build new cities similar to Bismaya to ensure low-cost houses to citizens and tackle the problem of illegal residential concentrations in the country,” he said. 

Juhaishi said Iraq’s Central Bank and other government-controlled banks would contribute to funding such projects. 

Last month, Zawya Projects had reported that the government is working on restarting the stalled ‘Bismaya’ project, which was abandoned by Hanwha due to payment delays. 

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)