AMMAN — Controversy over Jordan’s growing dependence on foreign aid has risen to the
surface again after Islamist
MP Saleh Al-Armouti voiced his concern about the
negative influence of foreign aid on Jordan’s political and social systems.
Speaking during the
Lower House general budget debate on Thursday, Armouti
claimed that non-profit organizations (NGOs) use foreign funds to change
policies and advocate issues that contradict religion and local traditions.
اضافة اعلان
“Foreign aid is
dangerous to society. Some of the NGOs’ goals go against our [political]
system; a lot of these NGOs hurt our country and write reports to foreign
parties, which they use to pressure us such as the case with the CEDAW
agreement,” Armouti said.
Economic and investment expert Wajdi Makharmeh told
Jordan
News that he agrees that some of these
NGOs influence the sociopolitical
sphere. “The current constitutional reforms came after pressure from foreign
organizations. Therefore aid does influence some of the policies and social
traditions in a way that we were not used to,” Makharmeh said.
However, he explained that Jordan has been relying
on foreign aid throughout its history to fund the budget and the deficit. In
recent years Jordan has become primarily dependent on American and European
assistance in the form of grants and soft loans. This support helps Jordan
cover a part of its capital and current expenditures since the government’s
budget increased noticeably during the past few years due to the expansion of
the public sector, Makharmeh said.
“Lack of foreign aid can create issues that would
force the government to increase taxes or borrow more money. So it is an
important factor in mitigating budget deficit, but this support comes at a
political price,” Makharmeh added.
Veteran journalist
Daoud Kuttab told
Jordan News that Jordan is a developing country and a strategic one as well, which is
supported by many countries around the world. He explained that foreign aid is
significant for the stability and continuity of Jordan.
“There is no free lunch, it [foreign aid] has
influence and no country in the world is immune from foreign influence. It
depends on how you deal with it, how much you give away to the influence, and
how much it forces you to deviate from your own goals and priorities,” Kuttab
said. “But as long as you can make them [the donors] understand what your priorities
are and they respect them, then that it is fine. The problem would happen if
aid has strings attached that forces you to deviate from national goals,” he
added.
He explained that three entities enjoy foreign
support; the government, international agencies like the
UN, and independent
NGOs. However, he added that Jordan had lost significant donors because of
imposed restrictions on NGOs by the government. Moreover, he believes that
these NGOs do not have the influence as Armouti had pointed.
Former Minister for State of Economic Affairs
Yusuf Mansur told
Jordan News that there is no escape from being dependent on
foreign aid. However, he advocates a departure from this habit.
“We have to advocate that we become less dependent
on foreign aid. It does very little to improve the productivity of Jordanians,
so it doesn’t help us graduate from our dependency. As long as the aid is spent
the way it is, it is not going to help us escape the vicious aid cycle,” Mansur
said.
He explained that aid is sometimes tied to what
donor countries want or support and sometimes it is also affected by our
policies. “We have to put the donor’s interest first and foremost, and that had
affected our vision in the past,” Mansur added.
He said that for Jordan to become less dependent on
foreign aid, it has to have a solid private sector and a thriving economy that
is filled with innovation and creativity. In addition, we need to have the
patience to achieve such goals since they are long term plans that could take
up to 30 years to become tangible, he added.
“I know that for many countries it took 30 years or more to
achieve economic breakthroughs, and Jordan cannot be the exception. Do we have
governments that are willing to work on something whose fruits will take 30
years to mature?” he asked.
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