AP source: Democrats strike tentative war funding deal with IMF funds included

AP source: Dems strike tentative war funding deal

WASHINGTON — A House Democratic aide says top House and Senate Democrats have reached a tentative agreement on a nearly $100 billion war funding bill, with a generous new line of credit for the International Monetary Fund.

At the core of the measure is President Barack Obama’s war spending request, which included $76 billion for Pentagon operations. But the IMF funding is a top priority of Obama to help developing countries deal with the troubled global economy.

The actual U.S. costs for the IMF contribution are estimated at $5 billion by the Congressional Budget Office since the U.S. gets interest-bearing assets in return.

The Democratic aide said the agreement was discussed briefly Monday during a conference call of House Democratic leaders.