VOL. XLVI

No 42

20-October-2003

IRAQ

US Senate Decides Half Iraq Reconstruction Aid Should Be A Loan

The US Senate on 16 October voted 51-47 for an amendment to President Bushs $87mn budget supplement request for Iraq and Afghanistan, stipulating that half the $20bn allocated for Iraqi reconstruction should take the form of a loan. The Bush administration had lobbied hard for the full $20bn to be a grant. One Republican who voted for the amendment, Susan Collins of Maine, said that $20bn was more...