Planning Ministry signs agreements worth 225m euros with Germany, France

AMMAN — The Government on Wednesday signed two financing agreements of concessional joint loan with the French Development Agency (AFD) worth 150 million euros and a similar agreement with the German Reconstruction Bank (KfW) worth 75 million euros, to be followed by a similar agreement in 2018.

The agreements aim to support the public budget and finance the water sector policy, a planning ministry statement said.

The agreements were signed by Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury, Marie-Hélène Loison, Director of Middle East and Southern Mediterranean Affairs at the AFD, and Stefan Zeeb, director of the KfW›s Middle East Department in the presence of Water Minister Hazem El Nasser, French Ambassador David Bertolotti, German Deputy Ambassador Ralf Schroer, director of the AFD Luc Le Cabellec and Director of KfW Christian Schaub.

Fakhoury said that the AFD will provide 150 million euros as a loan to the Jordanian government as part of the memorandum of understanding signed with the agency for the years 2016-2018, following France’s commitments at the London Conference.

This loan also represents the contribution of the French Agency to finance the programme titled “Support to Water Sector Reforms” (DPL). 

The planning minister explained that the loan will be disbursed in two installments of 75 million euros each, noting that Jordan will pay fixed and concessional annual interest rate of 1.86 per cent to be determined at the date of withdrawal of each payment. 

The second loan, which comes as part of the German aid programme, was recently committed at a value of 577 million euros, according to the statement.

KfW will provide a 75 million euros loan to the Jordanian government as a first payment of the bank›s total contribution from the «Water Sector Reform Support» financing loan, worth 150 million euros. 

This is the first loan of its kind to support the public budget. A second financing agreement will be planned for the year 2018, for the second payment of the KfW’s contribution of 75 million euros, according to the statement. 

The government will pay a fixed interest rate of 1.45 per cent, the statement said.

Fakhoury expressed Jordan›s appreciation of the French and German support to the Kingdom, especially in the vital sectors of water, sanitation and other priority projects.

He stressed that the government is working jointly with its French and German partners to finance projects within the executive development programme and the Jordanian response plan for the Syrian crisis.