Protection for Iraq’s funds extended for one year

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A U.S. embassy official said that the U.S. president has agreed to extend protection for money deposited in the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) for another year, according to the head of Iraq’s Board of Supreme Audit. “The anti-corruption coordinator at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Joseph Stafford, said that the U.S. president has agreed to the extension for one more year,” a statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency quoted Abdulbasit Turki as saying. An estimated $20-30 billion U.S. dollars is believed to be deposited in the DFI, according to officials. In May 2003, following the invasion of Iraq in March of that year, the Central Bank of Iraq-Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) account was created at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Administrator. A part of the fund has been transferred to Baghdad and Iraq, and the DFI-Baghdad account was opened at the Central Bank of Iraq “for cash payment requirements”. The DFI have been disbursed mainly for “the wheat purchase program, the currency exchange program, the electricity and oil infrastructure programs, equipment for Iraqis security forces, and for Iraqi civil service salaries and ministry budget operations”. SS (S)/SR 1