WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Bush administration will seek massive extra funds to cover its war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan next week when it submits annual budget plans to the Congress, CNN reported Friday.

    The extra money includes 100 billion U.S. dollars war funds for this year and another 145 billion dollars for next year, according to the report.

    The Congress has already approved 70 billion dollars last September to support this year's war efforts, and the new request will bring the total war costs in 2007 to 170 billion dollars.

    Under criticism from lawmakers on the growing war costs, the Bush administration will reduce the war funding request to 145 billion dollars for 2008.

    It also envisioned the war costs to be reduced to 50 billion dollars in 2009, in hopes that the war in Iraq will come to close at that time.

    But the 170 billion dollars mark a significant increase compared with 120 billion dollars earmarked for war efforts in 2006.

    U.S. officials attributed the hike to huge replacement and repair costs for war equipment.

    The war costs will be on top of a core defense budget for fiscal year 2008 starting Oct. 1, which will also set record to reach as much as 480 billion dollars.