$180bn transferred to DFI- UN chief

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), which administers proceeds from oil exports, has received nearly $180 billion U.S. dollars through the end of last year, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said. “Oil exports account for just over $165 million of the Development Fund for Iraq, which was established in 2003, the same year the Security Council phased out the oil-for-food programme, under which a sanctions-bound Iraq was allowed to use monitored oil sales revenue for humanitarian purchases,” according to a statement published on the Web site of the UN News Centre. “The International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), an independent body set up by the Council, has found that the Committee of Financial Experts, set up by Iraq’s Council of Ministers in 2006, is ready to assume oversight responsibilities of the Fund,” the statement indicated. “A recent independent audit of the Fund highlighted areas of concern, including ‘weaknesses in controls over oil extraction and use of the resources,’ he noted,” the statement added. SS (P)/SR 2