Funds for Iraq Are Far Short of Pledges, Figures Show
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 ? Six weeks after organizers of an international donors conference in Madrid said that more than $3 billion in grants had been pledged to help Iraq with immediate needs, a new World Bank tally verifies grants of only $685 million for 2004.
The vast gap seems to have occurred largely for two reasons: some countries, like Japan, changed the nature of their commitment after the conference from immediate aid to slower, long-term help; and some that had left their intentions unclear were incorrectly assumed to be giving immediate aid.
Many experts also say that donation pledges often do not materialize in the end, or come in the harder-to-tally form of credits for the purchase of commodities.
The grant money for immediate needs was part of a total $13 billion that organizers said was raised at the conference.
The Bush administration does not dispute the gap, but officials say it is too early for an accurate count, asserting that the number of grants will probably grow.
Some United Nations officials concur. "We know the Japanese are rethinking what they're going to do," said Julia Taft, director of the Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery at the United Nations Development Fund. "But once we get our trust funds up and running, about 15 donors will come forward. It's like, the money is in the bank, but the bank doesn't exist yet."
An independent trust fund was promised at the Madrid conference and is due to be set up next week.
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