Iraq reconstruction funds may run out before projects finished

[The Straight Story]

Iraq reconstruction funds may run out before projects finished

By Michael Posner, CongressDaily
A top U.S. official overseeing Iraq reconstruction said Tuesday the $18.4 billion for rebuilding the war-ravaged country will run out before major projects are finished.

Stuart Bowen Jr., special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, told the Senate Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee that most of the money appropriated in November 2003 has been obligated.

"What remains is less than $3 billion, which we estimate will not permit completion of all projects that were envisioned when the requirement for $18.4 billion was being determined in late 2003," Bowen said.

The big projects that will go unfinished, he noted, were sewage, irrigation, dams and other water development, and electricity generation. Of the 136 water projects first envisioned, only 49, or 36 percent, will be completed. And only 300 of the 425 electrical projects will be completed.

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