Written question asked by Glenda Jackson (Labour) on Tuesday, 29 June 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 July 2004. It was answered by Hilary Benn (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 July 2004 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Dept for International Development

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much and what proportion of funds held in the Development Fund for Iraq has been paid to foreign firms; for what purpose; and if he will make a statement. - Inc figures.

Answer: Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much and what proportion of funds held in the Development Fund for Iraq has been paid to foreign firms; for what purpose; and if he will make a statement. [181962] Hilary Benn: Over 70 per cent. of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) has been for Iraqi ministry operations and expenses: salaries, pensions, operating costs and some used capital project requirements. Much of this is domestic expenditure, although the provision of food and other goods through the public distribution system involves imports from outside Iraq. The remaining 30 has been allocated for reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. Our latest information indicates that between July 2003 and June 2004 the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) allocated about $6.9 billion, of which approximately $1.8 billion has been disbursed. DFID does not have aggregated data on the nationality of firms that have won contracts for these projects, but some details of the recipients of contracts are available on the CPA website (www.cpa-iraq.org). Many contracts with non-Iraqi firms involve sub-contracts with Iraq firms and employ Iraqi labour. The International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) oversees the management of the DFI on behalf of the international community. It is currently auditing the CPA's administration of the DFI and a report is due soon.

Secondary information