Iraq needs $88.2 billion to rebuild in wake of war against ISIS, minister says

 It will take a staggering $88.2 billion to rebuild parts of Iraq devastated by the war against ISIS, according to the country's minister of planning.

During an international donors conference in Kuwait regarding Iraq reconstruction, Salman Al-Jameeli said in a statement Tuesday that "$22.9 billion [is] needed for Iraq in the short term, [and] $65.4 billion over the medium term."

The funds would go to the vast swaths of Iraqi territories seized by ISIS during the jihadist group's brutal conquest that started in June 2014, the minister said.

 Seven governorates across Iraq -- including Ninawa, which encompasses the county's second-largest city of Mosul -- suffered about $46 billion in total damages. In addition, Iraq's security sector sustained $14 billion in total damages, while Iraqi banks lost $10 billion in cash assets, according to the minister.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who attended the donors conference, did not offer any new direct aid pledges to Iraq. But, he announced a $3 billion financial package from the Export–Import Bank of the United States, which includes loan guarantees and insurance to spur American investment in Iraq.

Source : abcnews