Iraq Earns More Under Oil for Food ProgramIraq earned 356 million US dollars in oil exports in the past week, surpassing the previous week's 252 million dollars, the United Nations reported Tuesday.The rise in export revenue was due to a quantity increase from 12 million barrels to 17 million barrels while oil prices and rate of exchange remained stable. The average price of Iraqi crude oil during the week leading to August 3 was approximately 21.96 dollars per barrel, U.N. figures show. There was a drop in the total value of contracts placed on hold by the U.N. Security Council's sanctions committee. At the end of the week, the value on hold stood at 3.378 billion dollars, compared with the previous week's total of 3.5 billion dollars. On August 1, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan approved the distribution plan for the current phase of the oil for food program from July 4 to November 30. The plan projects a budget of 5.5 billion dollars for the humanitarian program divided between 12 sectors country-wide. Some 1.5 billion dollars is earmarked for the food sector and for the purchase of medicines and medical supplies, while another 1 billion dollars is set for oil industry spare parts and equipment plus meeting the needs of especially vulnerable groups. The U.N. imposed sanctions on Iraq soon after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. In 1996, an "oil for food" program was launched in 1996 to allow Baghdad to export oil in exchange for food and other essentials such as medicine. Iraq has called for the lift of the sanctions as the program does not meet the 22-million population's most basic needs. |
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