Ammon News -
The government on Wednesday announced a JD448-million package aimed at mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on individuals and businesses.
Announcing the package, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said the figure "is large by all accounts and within the government’s capacity", assuring that the package will not increase the budget deficit.
He indicated that the package supports the expansion and extension of social protection programs and is designed to maintain jobs in the private sector while encouraging employment.
It is also intended to alleviate the impact of the crisis on public transport and businesses in developmental zones, the premier added, noting that the Greater Amman Municipality will take some measures to stimulate to construction sector.
Moreover, the package entails relaxed collection of public funds owed by citizens and businesses and the postponement of payments on loans extended by government-run lending entities, namely the Development and Employment Fund, Social Development Programs and the Governorate Development Fund, until the end of the current year.
Other measures include a JD30-million top-up of the lending window of the Agricultural Credit Corporation, Khasawneh revealed, adding that the government will inject a maximum of JD240 million in the market in the form of arrears to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, tax rebates and compensations for expropriated property.
Khasawneh said he was confident that these measures will help keep the wheel of the economy rolling and will mitigate the impact felt by individuals and businesses.
"We are still at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and in a very critical and sensitive situation in this battle with this pandemic", the prime minister said, emphasizing that "the goal and the top priority is to preserve the health of the citizen and to maintain the capacity of our health system, which is under severe pressure."
The premier indicated that his government has already signed contracts and paid an amount of JD70 million to procure vaccines, stressing that the government will continue its tireless efforts to secure the largest possible amount of these safe vaccines.
He underscored that vaccination and the measures already in place are "the only way to a safe summer during which we would be able to reopen sectors and return to normal life".
While emphasizing the urgency of safeguarding public health, Khasawneh said the government, as ordered by His Majesty the King, always seeks to pursue balance between health and economic activity.
Turning to the measures introduced by the government to protect public health, the prime minister said "they are important to address the current wave of the widespread of the virus in the Kingdom and elsewhere". He also added that the measures are intended to "keep us in safe zones with regard to the capacity of the health system".
While acknowledging that such measures are "exceptional and tough psychologically and financially on the citizens, various sectors and government", Khasawneh said: "They are primarily intended to protect the health of citizens and to avoid scenarios that are worse than the epidemiological situation at this stage".
He pointed out that the government would review these measures periodically and regularly according to developments in the epidemiological situation.
Khasawneh said his government will step up its follow-up on prices in the market as the holy month of Ramadan approaches, assuring that the Kingdom’s stock of strategic commodities is at "safe and comfortable" levels.
He stressed that the government will not allow price hikes or monopoly and would use all legal and economic means and tools to ensure fair prices.
Minister of Finance Muhammad Ississ indicated that JD423 million of the package is provided by the state's treasury while the remaining amount of JD25 million is provided by the Social Security Corporation, noting that the JD448-million package comprises 1.4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.
Detailing the figures, Ississ said JD60 million will be channeled to social protection schemes while JD113 million will be used to maintain jobs in most-affected sectors and find temporary jobs for those affected.
He also spokes about a JD10-million scheme to employ young men and women as well as unemployed nurses in Covid vaccination and prevention campaigns.
He said a JD240-million amount will be used to pay arrears to hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, the King Hussein Cancer Center and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, in addition to tax rebates and compensations of government-expropriated property.
The minister noted a staff-level agreement the government has reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, saying the agreement "is an additional certificate of confidence in Jordan's financial, economic and monetary stability".
State Minister for Media Affairs Sakher Dudin indicated that under the social protection component (JD60 million) of the package, the number of households accessing the "Takaful 3" social welfare program which targets households affected by the crisis, including the families of days workers, will be increased by 60,000 so that the total number of beneficiary families will reach 160,000.
Additionally, Dudin, who is also the government's spokesman, said impoverished families will receive vouchers which they can use to buy foodstuffs from the civil and military consumer corporations during the holy month of Ramadan.
With regard to measures to sustain employment in the private sector and promote job creation, the minister said the package earmarks JD113 million for this component, in addition to another JD10 million that will be used to upgrade health services.
To that end, he added, the Ministry of Labor will extend the Estidamah program, a scheme targeting most-affected businesses and sectors not allowed to reopen, until the end of the current year.
According to Dudin, the move is designed to sustain the jobs of more than 100,000 workers in these sectors, noting that the cost of the program's extension is JD50 million that will be paid by the government, in addition to JD25 million that will be provided by the Social Security Corporation.
Additionally, the minister revealed that the Greater Amman Municipality will work to stimulate the construction sector in the capital by increasing the number of apartments allowed to be built on each plot of land subject to specific regulations.
The Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship will launch a project to employ young men and women (who graduated during the last three years) in digital and information technology companies, noting that the government will subsidize 50 percent of wages for a period of 6 months, at a total cost of JD20 million, according to Dudin.
He revealed that the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities will launch a project for the rehabilitation and maintenance of various archaeological and tourist sites in the Kingdom, to provide about 4,500 job opportunities for a period of 8 months and at a cost of up to JD11 million.
Moreover, the Ministries of Health and Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship will launch a project to create 1,500 data entry and extension and communication jobs for a period of six months to support efforts exerted to confront the coronavirus pandemic, at a total cost of JD2 million, the minister indicated.
He added that the Ministry of Health will also launch a project to employ 2,500 male and female nurses, for a period of 6 months, in cooperation with the Jordanian Nurses and Midwives Association, with the aim of supporting the ministry’s efforts in hospitals, health centers, and vaccination sites, at a total cost of JD6 million.
Dudin also pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture will launch a national project for afforestation in the various governorates of the Kingdom to employ 6,000 unemployed Jordanians at a cost of JD10 million dinars for a period of six months, and not exceeding the end of this year.
Also, the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance will subsidize the interest on loans secured for new and priority agricultural projects aimed at employing youth and women and stimulating the use of technology, at a value of JD4 million.
Dudin added that the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply will allocate JD10 million to stimulate the industrial sector with the aim of increasing job opportunities in export-oriented sectors.
In the youth and media sectors, the minister noted that the package allocates JD2 million to support the employment of young men and women (who graduated during the last three years) in vaccination and disease prevention campaigns.
According to the minister, the programs and projects, which will be introduced under the package, will help create about 14,500 jobs through the end of the current year, in addition to protecting the jobs of more than 100,000 private sector workers.
Public transport operators in the capital Amman will be relieved from 50 percent of new licensing fees to compensate them for lockdown periods and the reduction in seating capacity, Dudin indicated, adding that the cost of this measure is JD1.6 million.
Also, fines imposed on delayed payments of property tax will be canceled while taxpayers will also be relieved from fines on outstanding balances they owe to the tax department if they pay off the dues before July 1, 2021.
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