RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Finance has disbursed $50 million in the fourth instalment of the Kingdom’s grant to Jordan, in support of the country’s economy, Saudi Press Agency reported.
This is part of an agreement in 2018 between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE to provide an economic aid package worth $2.5 billion for Jordan.
The agreement involves providing $50 million as an annual support to the Jordanian budget, from each of the three countries for a period of five years.
It happened at a time when Jordan was reeling from the effects of increased prices, as part of an austerity drive to satisfy the International Monetary Fund.
Jordanian Acting Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Yousef Al-Shamali said the grant will go toward implementing strategic and high-priority projects for the Jordanian government in various fields, and supporting the government’s efforts to provide the necessary services to Syrian refugees and host communities.
Speaking during a press briefing with the Saudi ambassador to Amman, Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, Al-Shamali stressed the importance of Saudi Arabia’s support, which enabled the Jordanian government to implement priority development projects, and face the economic and financial challenges related to repercussions from the Syrian refugee situation and the coronavirus pandemic.
He praised the role of the Saudi Fund for Development in supporting development projects in various priority sectors, noting that the fund provided soft loans and financed 19 projects of economic and social priority, amounting to about $545 million since 1975.
Al-Sudairi said that the Jordanian economy is solid and capable of growth despite the challenges it faced, especially in the past decade, following the repercussions that afflicted the region.
He said Jordan was able to adapt to events and maintain the negative effects as much as possible at their potential limits.
