Iraq remains vulnerable to fraud and mismanagement because no-one seems to know what the hell is going on there.

A new report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) found that the new computer accounting system there, the $38 million-plus Iraq Financial Management Information System (IFIMIS) which is supposed to keep track of where the money is going was shut down for a month. Trouble is no-one even noticed.

"According to US Embassy officials, the Ministry of Finance continues to use its legacy system for overall budgeting and accounting, 'no-one noticed' when IFIMIS was shut down for a month, and no-one relies on IFIMIS to produce reports. Iraqi user requirements have not been identified and incorporated in the system's development. Other ministries, such as Interior and Defense, have developed their own financial management information systems which are not compatible with IFIMIS and which cannot transfer financial data from one system to another."

The report found that the Government of Iraq (GOI) financial structure was struggling to Iraqi ministerial budgets and expenditures, leaving them vulnerable to fraud, waste and misappropriation. Also, a US Embassy official told SIGIR that the existing systems had limited planning functionality, which makes it difficult for the GOI to develop a budget.