World Bank provides $500 million to Jordan to support ongoing reforms


28-06-2018 05:36 PM

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The World Bank Group Thursday announced a US$500 million to support Jordan's ongoing reforms to improve the economy and business climate.

The funds consist of a $111 million grant from the Global Concessional Financing Facility and a $389 million non-concessional portion with a final maturity of 35 years.

The group said in a statement from Washington that the new support to Jordan is to promote inclusive economic growth, more jobs, and expand the National Aid Fund cash transfer program to cover an additional 85,000 households.

The First Equitable Growth and Job Creation Development Policy Loan (DPL) will also expand social safety nets to protect the poorest against economic shocks, boost job creation, and improve access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The program will have a specific focus on creating opportunities for young people and women.

"The World Bank reiterates its unwavering commitment to support Jordan at this critical juncture," said Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank Mashreq Regional Director. "The new Jordanian government has the opportunity of a fresh start to build consensus for reforms based on a broad consultative approach. We look forward to supporting Jordan’s efforts to unlock the potential of its human capital, increase its competitiveness, kick-start growth and boost job creation"

The program will support reforms to reduce business costs and improve market accessibility as a way of boosting productivity. At the same time, creating flexible and integrated labor markets and better, more efficient social assistance will allow more Jordanians to work, and allow those that do not have employment or decent incomes to benefit from social assistance.

"The broad set of actions stipulated by this program will set the foundations for higher growth and employment in Jordan," said Christos Kostopoulos, World Bank Lead Economist and Co-Task Team Leader. "In particular, flexible and part-time work opportunities are expected to promote a higher labor participation rate among women and youth, thus increasing their economic empowerment."

Launched in 2016, GCFF provides concessional financing to middle income countries hosting large numbers of refugees at rates usually reserved for the poorest countries.

The Program brings the World Bank Group’s total commitments to Jordan to US$1.3 billion, of which US$1.1 billion is on concessional terms.




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