Jordan Times
Monday, September 10, 2007
‘Foreign assistance has not
dropped this year’
By Jumana Ghneimat
AMMAN - Total foreign assistance to Jordan for 2007 has not dropped and is
almost equal to what Jordan received last year, Minister of Planning and
International Cooperation Suhair Al-Ali said on Sunday.
According to official figures, the total volume of external assistance expected
for this year is put at around $675 million, in the form of grants and loans.
Al-Ali told Al Rai and The Jordan Times that her ministry was exerting serious
efforts to obtain additional assistance from different donor countries and
organisations, pointing out that the agreement on the aid which the US presents
to the Kingdom on regular basis will be signed within the coming two weeks.
The minister, who preferred not to give any details at this point on the volume
of additional assistance, indicated that the amount will be announced as soon as
it is “a fact on the ground”.
During a ceremony to sign a $335,000 grant to fund a feasibility study for the
Zarqa River Basin (see story on page 4), US Ambassador to Jordan David Hale said
his country will continue to provide assistance to the Kingdom during the coming
years, saying Washington will decide on the size of assistance for 2008 in the
coming stage.
The US official estimated that his country’s assistance to Jordan for this year
will be around $0.5 billion, to be distributed evenly between economic and
military assistance.
Hale explained that the assistance will include financial aid to support the
state treasury. Part of the aid, he added, will be used to finance some projects
classified as top priority, particularly in the fields of health, education and
economic development.
In 2006, the Kingdom received grants and loans totalling $700 million from
different donor countries and the US was the principal donor with an assistance
package amounting to $300 million, while in 2005, Jordan received $348.5 million
in US assistance.