AMMAN — The
World Bank on Monday
released a statement saying it has approved an additional $290 million in financing to support
low-income and vulnerable households in Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
The
additional funds are for the
Emergency Cash Transfer COVID-19 Response Project to
provide cash support households and workers affected by the economic impact of
COVID-19, the statement added.
“The World Bank will continue its support to Jordanians
through the crisis,” s. “This financing will expand cash transfers to
more households, including female-headed households, and pay part of the
salaries of formal sector workers in businesses that are struggling to stay
open and keep paying their staff as a result of the pandemic,” said Saroj
Kumar Jha, the World Bank’s Mashreq regional director.
This new financing will scale up cash transfers to poor and
near-poor households affected by the pandemic and provide wage subsidies for
workers in some of the most affected firms, according to the statement.
The financing is part of the $1.1 billion recently announced
as a combination of loans and grants by the World Bank and its international
partners to support Jordan in responding to the pandemic and promoting an
early, climate-resilient, and inclusive recovery.
Although Jordan’s economy is beginning to recover, the shock
caused by the pandemic continues to be felt through job losses and reduced
earnings, the statement said. Households relying on informal work have been the
most affected, with many of them pushed into poverty.
"The Government of Jordan is carrying out large
social protection programs to reduce the impact the COVID-19 crisis is having
on the most vulnerable Jordanians,” said Nasser Shraideh, minister
of planning and international cooperation. “This additional financing
will strengthen the support we provide through the National Aid Fund and the
Social Security Corporation in cash transfers, unemployment benefits, and wage
subsidies.”
The financing will also extend the duration of benefits
being made under the “Takaful-3” program to 160,000 of the households of
informal workers for a year, provide wage subsidies for 100,000 formal sector
workers for 13 months under the “Istidama” program, and support cash transfers
to 85,000 low-income households under the regular “Takaful-1” cash transfer
program.
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