DATE=10/24/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/DONORS CONFERENCE (S-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-309025

BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON

DATELINE=MADRID

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: An international donors conference for Iraq has ended in Madrid with pledges for the country's reconstruction totaling 33-billion dollars. V-O-A's Roger Wilkison reports, that figure includes a 20-billion-dollar U-S pledge, but not export credits and technical aid.

TEXT: What donors committed on Friday falls short of what combined estimates by the World Bank and the United States say Iraq needs over the next four years, but it is much more than what analysts expected to come out of the Madrid conference.

Spanish Finance Minister Rodrigo Rato made the announcement at the end of the two-day meeting, heard through an interpreter

/// RATO INTERPRETER ACTUALITY ///

We're talking about total financial resources of 33-billion dollars.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

The meeting was hailed as a great success by its Spanish organizers and by U-S officials, who lobbied other donors for contributions.

The World Bank, which had estimated Iraq's needs at 36-billion dollars through 2007, says donors will not have to provide all the money for reconstruction, because Iraq's oil revenues, private investment and other resources could cover a big part of the country's needs.

Although Japan and Saudi Arabia pledged more money than expected, much of their contributions will be in the form of loans, which could deepen Iraq's already heavy debt load. (SIGNED)

NEB/RW/AWP/TW/FC