Iraq weighs $250B Gulf-backed development fund
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi has unveiled plans for a sovereign development fund that could mobilize up to $250 billion in Gulf-backed financing for infrastructure projects, a source familiar with discussions within the Coordination Framework (CF), Iraq's largest parliamentary bloc, told Shafaq News on Wednesday.
The proposed fund, which Al-Zaidi presented during the CF's June 2 meeting, would receive an initial $10 billion contribution from the Central Bank of Iraq, while Gulf countries would be invited to participate through investment partnerships and project implementation. The PM also outlined mechanisms for executing the initiative, which is intended to improve infrastructure and create employment opportunities for young Iraqis.
The proposal comes as the government advances a broader economic reform agenda, including a program budget approved by the Council of Ministers in cooperation with the World Bank and the parliamentary Finance Committee.
On the political front, the CF authorized Al-Zaidi to continue consultations with political blocs over the remaining cabinet positions and granted him broad discretion in selecting candidates for vacant ministries, including the Interior Ministry, according to the source. The discussions also addressed ministries allocated to parties affiliated with armed factions, with Al-Zaidi tasked with engaging those groups to reach an agreed mechanism for nominating candidates.
Parliament approved Al-Zaidi's government and ministerial program on May 14, granting confidence to 14 ministers, while nine cabinet posts remain vacant pending political agreement on their allocation. Completion of the cabinet, the source said, is expected after Al-Zaidi's planned visit to Washington and following parliament's legislative recess.
The meeting further reviewed efforts to place weapons under state control, including proposals to integrate armed factions into the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a predominantly Shiite umbrella force incorporated into the Iraqi state in 2016, and updates from committees overseeing the government's weapons-monopoly initiative. The Iraqi government has set September as a target for completing the process.
Read more: How the US pushed Iraq's armed factions toward disarmament
A source previously told Shafaq News that Iraq's top state leaders were scheduled to meet on Wednesday evening to discuss efforts to place weapons under state control, economic reforms, and other political and security issues.
