Ammon News - Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Nasser Shraideh, said that the volume of grants and aid estimated in the 2021 budget, amounting to about JD576 million, has been hedged, taking into account impacts of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on donors.

Shraideh gave his remarks during the discussion of the Planning Ministry and its departments' budget with members of the Lower House's Finance Committee chaired by MP Nimer Slaihat, on Tuesday.

Shraideh added that the ministry had received guarantees from donors to secure additional aid to the Kingdom.

The planning minister explained that his ministry's 2021 budget is estimated at JD12.2 million.

Shraideh indicated that key donor countries to Jordan are the United States of America (USA), the European Union (EU), and a number of European countries, including Germany, France, Britain, Italy, and from East Asia, Japan and China, in addition to the aid provided by the Arab Gulf countries.

He noted that 70 percent of foreign aid is channeled to support the general budget, and 30 percent is provided as grants to implement projects in certain sectors, on which donors spend directly and isn't listed in the general budget, explaining that the contractual figures do not correspond to the volume of actual grants in the general budget.

On the role of the National Center for Innovation (NCI), Shraideh said that it structurally reports for the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), with a capital estimated at JD2.2 million, indicating that the HCST seeks to promote scientific research and innovation, and the government's estimated contribution to the 2021 budget is JD590,000, and it will start operations in a month.

On the Jordan Response Plan (JRP) to the Syrian crisis, Shraideh said that donors' contributions to the plan had covered 34 percent of its total estimated needs in 2020.