DUBAI: Jordan will shoulder part of private sector workers’ salaries while employers will pay 50 percent of the wages in accordance with the Defense Order No.6 of 2020, labor minister Nidal Bataineh said, in a report from state news agency Petra.
The payment would be sourced from the government’s Social Security Corporation, the report added.
Bataineh said some private sector firms have not been allowed to open, thus generating no revenues, but still had to bear the costs of paying their workers.
About 90 percent of the private sector companies paid their employees in March, while 80 percent of those who were fired from the private sector went back to their jobs, the ministry said.
The Defense Order was issued to let employers pay 50 percent of the employees’ salaries instead of paying all the costs, while government will pay part of the wages on behalf of the employer, Bataineh added.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed its support of the country through its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), according to a report by Jordan Times, adding its tough measures will “pay off in the coming weeks and months.”
The RFI provides urgent financial aid to member countries experiencing a crisis.
IMF Chief of Mission to Jordan Chris Jarvis said they will “continue to work to give the best advice to the Jordanian government and to encourage others to give Jordan the support it needs.”
Jarvis also praised the country’s quick response during the pandemic, saying “it's possible that the crisis in Jordan will be over earlier than other countries because it has done such a good job of containment.”
