AMMAN –– The government and the
World Bank Tuesday signed three agreements to finance priority projects in
Jordan with a total value of about $853.75 million.
اضافة اعلان
The agreements, announced last month, aim to support the government’s efforts
in the field of social protection, implement the economic reform agenda, propel
economic recovery by supporting the continuity of employment programs and the
creation of job opportunities in the private sector and support the improvement
of the business and investment environment, according to a Ministry of Planning
and International Cooperation press release, cited by the Jordan News Agency,
Petra.
The agreements were signed virtually by Minister of Planning and International
Cooperation Nasser Shraideh and Regional Director of the Mashreq Department at
the
World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jha, in the presence of the World Bank's
Resident Representative in Jordan, Holly Benner.
The new financing aims to support government efforts aimed at mitigating the
impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the various sectors, stimulate growth,
and help the various affected sectors and groups to overcome the repercussions
of the crisis, Shraideh said.
The first agreement included an additional financing of $290 million for the
cash transfer project to respond to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic,
which aims to finance part of the mitigating measures to enhance social
protection that were recently announced by the Council of Ministers, and
includes financing the supplementary support program for the National Aid
Fund's monthly aid program by JD100 million for 2021 through the public
treasury.
In addition, it will be used to finance the government’s contribution to the
job sustainability program (Estidama) until the end of the year at a cost of JD115
million, which is implemented in cooperation with the Social Security
Corporation, where the implementation period has been extended until the end of
the year.
According to the statement, this program aims to enable the affected sectors to
sustain employment opportunities. It also includes funding of JD50 million that
targets an additional 60,000 households benefiting from the temporary cash
support program (Takaful 3) for the year 2021 through the National Aid Fund,
where the program aims to provide cash for families in need and impacted by the
coronavirus pandemic, especially the families of day laborers in the
unorganized (informal) sector.
As for the second agreement, it includes additional funding of about $64
million to help the government finance the purchase of vaccines against the
coronavirus, as well as a grant of about $14 million provided by the global
concessional financing mechanism, and $50 million in the form of a soft loan
provided by the World Bank.
The third agreement, worth $500 million, will be implemented over five years
with the aim of stimulating public and private investment in Jordan to achieve
recovery from the pandemic. This program is expected to help Jordan accelerate
economic recovery and create more job opportunities through utilizing its
economic potentials, especially green growth opportunities.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is also currently preparing an
additional financing of $250 million to support this program, the ministry
said.
This funding is tied to the government's implementation of a number of reform
indicators connected to improving the investment climate and stimulating
economic growth responsive to climate change, in line with the Jordanian reform
matrix.
The World Bank’s portfolio in the Kingdom, until July 2021, within the bank's
country partnership framework, for the period 2017-2022, amounted to $3.25
billion, distributed over about 15 development projects that include a
combination of concessional financing and grants.
Read more
National
.jpg)
.jpg)
