EU disburses €250 million in macro-financial assistance to Jordan

AMMAN — The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, on Tuesday disbursed €250 million in macro-financial assistance (MFA) to Jordan, according to an EU statement.

The disbursement is partly from the €3 billion emergency MFA package for 10 enlargement and neighbourhoodpartners, which aims to help them limit the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19 MFA programme), and partly from Jordan’s €500 million third MFA programme(MFA-III programme), which was approved in January 2020, the statement said.

The first €250 million disbursement to Jordan under these two MFA programmes took place in November 2020.

Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for the Economy, said: “Today’s disbursement of €250 million is testament to the European Union’s ongoing solidarity with the Jordanian people. These funds, released following the fulfilment of the agreed policy commitments, will help the Jordanian economy to emerge from the shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Maria Hadjitheodosiou, EU Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, stressed that: “The second MFA disbursement reflects the EU's determination to stand by Jordan in these challenging times. The EU is proud to support the reform agenda pursued by the Jordanian government. The reforms will help Jordan to foster strong and sustainable economic growth for the benefit of all Jordanian citizens."

Jordan has fulfilled the policy conditions agreed with the EU for the release of the €250 million disbursement under the COVID-19 MFA programme and the MFA-III programme, the statement said.

These included important measures to improve public finance management, accountability in the water sector, measures to increase labour market participation and measures to strengthen good governance.

In addition, Jordan continues to satisfy the pre-conditions for the granting of MFA as regards the respect of human rights and effective democratic mechanisms, including a multi-party parliamentary system and the rule of law; as well as a satisfactory track record under the IMF programme, according to the statement

With Tuesday’s disbursement, the EU has successfully completed four out of the 10 MFA programmes in the €3 billion COVID-19 MFA package. Furthermore, the third and final tranche of the MFA-III programme to Jordan, amounting to €200 million, will follow once Jordan fulfils the agreed commitments.

The commission continues to work closely with all its MFA partners on the timely implementation of the agreed policy programmes, the statement said.