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AMMAN – The World Bank on Thursday approved a $250 million loan to Jordan to help ease the Kingdom’s fiscal strains, which according to the bank have been deepened by the influx of Syrian refugees.

In a press release posted on its website, the World Bank also blamed regional turmoil for Jordan’s financial woes, highlighting disruptions of natural gas supplies from Egypt.

The World Bank’s support to Jordan over the last two years, amounting to $700 million in loans and grants, has focused on a two-track approach, medium-term budget support and emergency response to the Syrian crisis, the statement said.

“Jordan is striving to offset the impact of exogenous shocks that have deepened its economic difficulties,” said Ferid Belhaj, World Bank director of the Mashreq Department.

“The World Bank’s support to Jordan over the last several months is a case in point of how engaging fast and in earnest to tackle emergency situations, such as the impact of the Syrian crisis on the country, can help maintain government focus on policy dialogue and prevent the derailing of its broad structural reform agenda,” Belhaj added.

The Second Programmatic Development Policy Loan complements an earlier operation approved in January 2012 which supports key elements of the Government’s Executive Development Programme, which aims to improve transparency and accountability, enhance debt management and the efficiency of government spending, and promote private sector-driven growth, the bank’s statement said.

More recently, in July 2013, the World Bank committed $150 million through a rapid, direct financial assistance to help Jordan maintain access to essential healthcare services and basic household needs for the population affected by the large and increasing impact of the Syrian crisis.

The World Bank said that it had also spearheaded efforts to mobilise donor grant financing to support the resilience of stretched public service delivery to Jordanian communities hosting Syrian refugees, pointing out that in October 2013, the bank secured a $50 million grant targeting municipalities and communities under stress. The grant, co-financed by Britain, Canada, Switzerland and the World Bank through its State and Peace Building Fund, strengthens municipal capacity to support local economic development.

External shocks, the global recession and the regional turmoil that followed the Arab Spring, including the impact of the disruption in low-cost gas supplies from Egypt, have heightened long-term structural vulnerabilities in Jordan, according to the bank. 

“As of mid-2012, it became apparent that the external shocks and regional turmoil have resulted in fiscal and current account imbalances which have been partially financed by external aid,” said Eric Le Borgne, World Bank lead economist for Jordan. 

AMMAN – Over 200 policy makers, representatives of the private sector and civil society, and academia from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will convene in Amman on May 11 to discuss challenges and opportunities of economic transformation in Arab countries in transition. 

According to a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the two-day conference will be hosted by the government, IMF and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD). 

The statement indicated that participants will include Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, AFESD Director General Abdulatif Al Hamad and other high-level participants from the region.

The conference, titled “Building the Future: Jobs, Growth, and Fairness in the Arab World” will address four related issues: macroeconomic policies for stability and inclusive growth; transparency and governance; business climate; and youth employment, said the IMF statement, adding that participants will discuss policies that can lead to better job creation, equity and growth in the region. 

“I am looking forward to constructive discussions on forming economic visions for this important region,” Lagarde said.

“The Amman conference will provide an open forum for the region’s top policy representatives and other stakeholders to discuss strategies to generate the strong and inclusive growth required to reduce unemployment, especially among the young, and raise standards of living across the Arab world,” she added.

Participants will have the opportunity to draw lessons from other regions with similar experience of fundamentally transforming their economies, the statement said.   

AMMAN — The Kingdom’s 10 major dams now hold over half of their storage capacity, following a depression that brought heavy rain across the country and snow to the southern region, officials said on Saturday.

The depression, which was accompanied by a cold air mass, raised water levels at the major dams, dispelling fears of a drought due to the absence of rain since December last year.

“The dams now hold 170 million cubic metres (mcm) of water, constituting 52.3 per cent of their total capacity of 325mcm. Some 28mcm went into the dams over a four-day period,” Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Saad Abu Hammour told The Jordan Times.

The 10 dams held 181mcm or 55.6 per cent of their total capacity at this time last year, whereas they stored around 34.5 per cent in March 2012.

“The water situation is much better after the recent rain across the country and snowfall in the south. Hopefully, more rain will come, especially since the country usually receives rain until May,” Abu Hammour noted.

The depression, which started affecting the country last Tuesday night, also brought temperatures down nine degrees below their annual average of 17°C during this time of the year, while the southern region witnessed snow on Friday that briefly disrupted traffic movement, according to authorities.

The Civil Defence Department (CDD) said its personnel evacuated 202 people and tourists who were snowbound on Friday in the south and pumped out rainwater from 74 houses that were inundated following flash floods, mostly in the southern and central regions.

“There were no injuries or fatalities due to weather-related incidents since the depression started,” a CDD statement said.

AMMAN –– The World Bank on Thursday approved a $250 million loan to Jordan to help ease the Kingdom’s fiscal strains, which according to the bank have been deepened by the influx of Syrian refugees.

In a press release posted on its website,  the World Bank also blamed regional turmoil for Jordan’s financial woes, referring to disruptions of natural gas supplies from Egypt.

The World Bank’s support to Jordan over the last two years, amounting to $700 million in loans and grants, has focused on a two-track approach, medium term budget support and emergency response to the Syrian crisis, the statement said.

“Jordan is striving to offset the impact of exogenous shocks that have deepened its economic difficulties,” said Ferid Belhaj, World Bank Director of the Mashreq Department.

“The World Bank’s support to Jordan over the last several months is a case in point of how engaging fast and in earnest to tackle emergency situations, such as the impact of the Syrian crisis on the country, can help maintain government focus on policy dialogue and prevent the derailing of its broad structural reform agenda,” Belhaj added.

The Second Programmatic Development Policy Loan complements an earlier operation approved in January 2012 which supports key elements of the Government’s Executive Development Programme, which aims to improve transparency and accountability, enhance debt management and the efficiency of government spending, and promote private sector-driven growth, the bank’s statement said.

More recently, in July 2013, the World Bank committed $150 million through a rapid, direct financial assistance to help Jordan maintain access to essential healthcare services and basic household needs for the population affected by the large and increasing impact of the Syrian crisis.

The World Bank said that it had also spearheaded efforts to mobilise donor grant financing to support the resilience of stretched public service delivery to Jordanian communities hosting Syrian refugees, pointing out that in October 2013, the bank secured a $50 million grant targeting municipalities and communities under stress. The grant, co-financed by Britain, Canada, Switzerland and the World Bank through its State and Peace Building Fund, strengthens municipal capacity to support local economic development.

External shocks, the global recession and the regional turmoil that followed the Arab Spring, including the impact of the disruption in low-cost gas supplies from Egypt, have heightened long-term structural vulnerabilities in Jordan, according to the bank. "As of mid-2012, it became apparent that the external shocks and regional turmoil have resulted in fiscal and current account imbalances which have been partially financed by external aid,” said Eric Le Borgne, World Bank Lead Economist for Jordan. “

AMMAN — The Polish embassy’s four-month project to bring Polish culture, tradition, history, sports and art closer to the Polish community in Jordan and to Jordanians interested in the East European country was received with great interest from the intended audience, the organisers said recently.

“What is Poland about?”, organised in cooperation with Al Hussein Cultural Centre, concluded in late February, according to an embassy statement.

AMMAN — The German embassy has supported the renovation of the Arab Episcopal School in Irbid Governorate, some 80km north of Amman, with a donation of JD8,000 and the provision of new equipment, a statement said on Thursday.

German Ambassador Ralph Tarraf inaugurated the school’s renovated library on Wednesday and praised the school for its “exemplary programmes” targeting children with visual impairments.

These children are integrated into regular school activities at the Arab Episcopal School.

AMMAN — The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Jordan joined thousands of people across the world on Thursday to mark the third anniversary of the Syrian crisis and shed light on the “staggering humanitarian needs” of Syrian refugees in Jordan and the region, it said in a statement.

“This is a human crisis of distressing proportions…” NRC Jordan Country Director Robert Beer said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

NRC postponed until next week a planned event at its education and youth training sites in the Zaatari Refugees Camp due to weather conditions.

More than 500 children and volunteer teachers are participating in it.

“We remain focused on supporting those affected by the recent rain and high winds with emergency shelter…” Beer said.

AMMAN — Jordan and Russia on Thursday discussed ways to boost tourist exchanges.

During a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Jordan Boris Bolotin, Tourism Minister Nidal Katamine highlighted the importance of promoting Jordan to Russian tourists.

Bolotin said tourism between the two countries is good, adding that most Russians want to visit Jordan’s religious and archaeological sites, especially the Dead Sea.

Around 122,000 Russian tourists visited Jordan in 2013.

CAIRO — The Arab Parliament on Thursday strongly denounced the killing of Jordanian Judge Raed Zuaiter by Israeli soldiers earlier this week, demanding an investigation into the incident.

In a statement released on Thursday, Arab Parliament Speaker Ahmed Al Jarwan condemned Israeli terrorist practices against the Palestinian people and Arabs in general, calling on the international community to take strict measures against these violations.

AMMAN — Amman’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) personnel detained suspects involved in the Wednesday theft of $250,000 from workers at a money exchange office, the Public Security Department (PSD) said Thursday.

A vehicle with four people had blocked another car carrying two people who work at a money exchange office while on their way to take the money to another branch.

The suspects allegedly beat the two employees, stole the money and fled.

CID investigators tracked them down and arrested them along with three other suspected accomplices.

A search is under way for an eighth suspect, the PSD said.

The CID also managed to seize the money and return it, while the injured employees are in hospital in fair condition.