‘Social security fund’s assets grew by some 11 per cent in 2018’

AMMAN — The Social Security Investment Fund’s (SSIF) total assets reached JD10.24 billion by the end of 2018, compared with JD9.24 billion at the end of 2017, marking an increase of 10.8 per cent, according to SSIF Chief Executive Officer Kholoud Saqqaf.

The fund’s revenues from various investments grew by 22 per cent last year to reach JD439 million, compared with JD360 million in 2017, Saqqaf added in the latest issue of the Bank Magazine, issued by the Association of Banks in Jordan, as reported by the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

The CEO added that the banking sector is a main driver of the national economy and is characterised by high efficiency levels, which reflected on SSIF’s keenness to invest in 12 Islamic and commercial banks with possession rates of 2 to 21 per cent.

She noted that the SSIF is the biggest investment fund in the Kingdom and owns long term investments in several vital sectors of the economy, including the tourism, mining, ICT, banks, conventional and renewable energy sectors.

The fund also has investments in shares, bonds, financial market tools, loans and leasing, Saqqaf said, pointing out that the ratio of SSIF’s assets to the GDP exceeds 30 per cent.

The amount of SSIF shares in banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) reached JD1.23 billion by the end of 2018, constituting some 67 per cent of the total value of the public share portfolio of the fund and 13 per cent of the total market value of the banking sector on the ASE, she added.

The fund has investments in more than 50 public shareholding companies, such as banks, mining and transformation industries and services, where the value of public shareholding portfolio of the SSIF stood at around JD1.84 billion in 2018, constituting 11.4 per cent of the market value of ASE, the CEO noted.

Saqqaf added that the SSIF also has a development role, referring to the approval of the Daman Financial Leasing Company, wholly owned by the Social Security Corporation, to grant JD180 million to finance the Maan military hospital project, and financing the Bus Rapid Transit connecting Amman and Zarqa.

The SSIF also presented JD50 million as personal loans for Social Security Corporation pensioners, as part of a programme to promote small development projects of pensioners, where beneficiaries totalled 20,000 by the end of 2018.