The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are putting their work on hold after the devastating bomb which ripped apart the United Nations' headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday.
Both international financial institutions had staff injured in the blast, and one Iraq employee of the World Bank is still missing.
The other 14 World Bank staffers have been relocated to Amman, the Jordanian capital, where the six people employed by the IMF - who had only arrived the day before the attack - have also been moved.
But both promised to stay in Iraq for the long term, even if their operations would be out of commission for the present.
"We have made no decision to pull out of Iraq and certainly we will continue to work on the needs assessment from Amman, while we discuss the next step forward with the UN, the IMF and our other partners," said World Bank spokesman Damian Milverton.
The Bank had hoped to complete its assessment before its annual meeting in Washington DC at the end of September.
Much of the work is already complete, officials said.
Donor countries will meet in Madrid on 23-24 October to pledge funds for the reconstruction of Iraq.
'Robots'
IMF director of external relations Tom Dawson was also keen to reaffirm the organisation's commitment to Iraq.
"We have six people there and every one of them was injured," he said. "That's why they're being pulled out.
"Right now we are concerned with the status of our staff, there is no work for anyone to do right now at any rate. It's not like we have robots stacked up and we can send four more people in to do the same work."
The European Union is also pulling out three staff who were there to assess Iraq's reconstruction needs ahead of the donor conference, but its humanitarian staff will remain.
The UN has already vowed to keep working, despite the attack which killed at least 20 people - including the UN's special representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
The loss of Mr de Mello was a particular blow to the UN, since he was one of the world's most experienced and respected operators in the reconstruction business.
Both international financial institutions had staff injured in the blast, and one Iraq employee of the World Bank is still missing.
The other 14 World Bank staffers have been relocated to Amman, the Jordanian capital, where the six people employed by the IMF - who had only arrived the day before the attack - have also been moved.
But both promised to stay in Iraq for the long term, even if their operations would be out of commission for the present.
"We have made no decision to pull out of Iraq and certainly we will continue to work on the needs assessment from Amman, while we discuss the next step forward with the UN, the IMF and our other partners," said World Bank spokesman Damian Milverton.
The Bank had hoped to complete its assessment before its annual meeting in Washington DC at the end of September.
Much of the work is already complete, officials said.
Donor countries will meet in Madrid on 23-24 October to pledge funds for the reconstruction of Iraq.
'Robots'
IMF director of external relations Tom Dawson was also keen to reaffirm the organisation's commitment to Iraq.
"We have six people there and every one of them was injured," he said. "That's why they're being pulled out.
"Right now we are concerned with the status of our staff, there is no work for anyone to do right now at any rate. It's not like we have robots stacked up and we can send four more people in to do the same work."
The European Union is also pulling out three staff who were there to assess Iraq's reconstruction needs ahead of the donor conference, but its humanitarian staff will remain.
The UN has already vowed to keep working, despite the attack which killed at least 20 people - including the UN's special representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
The loss of Mr de Mello was a particular blow to the UN, since he was one of the world's most experienced and respected operators in the reconstruction business.
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