17 September 2019
Iraq needs to spend at least $88 billion for post-war reconstruction that involves rebuilding destroyed houses and public facilities, the Arab country's Finance Minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

More than 1.5 million Iraqis have been left homeless because of internal conflicts over the past years and need their houses to be rebuilt in various governorates, Fuad Hussein said, quoted by the official daily Alsabah.

He said Iraq's 2020 budget would give more attention to reconstruction projects, adding that the private sector must also play a key role in rebuilding.

"Studies conducted by the specialized authorities have concluded that Iraq needs at least $88 billion for reconstruction as hundreds of thousands of houses have been destroyed and entire cities have been devastated," he said.

International donors attending a conference in Kuwait in early 2018 pledged to extend $30 billion to support Iraq's post-war reconstruction plans.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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