(MENAFN) Jordanian Finance Minister Suleiman Hafez confirmed the transference of USD250 million from the Kuwaiti government to the Central Bank of Jordan, official news agency Petra reported.
This amount is the first tranche of a USD5 billion grant for Jordan that was endorsed by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) last year.
At a GCC summit in December 2011, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar have agreed to give Jordan USD5 billion over a five-year period to support its development projects, with each state contributing USD1.25 billion.
Jordan, which has one of the smallest economies in the Arab World, was hit by the global economic downturn and Arab Spring unrest in neighbouring Syria, driving its public debt-to-GDP ratio to about 64 percent last year.
Jordan Times newspaper cited Finance Minister Suleiman Hafez as saying that the Kingdom's fiscal deficit could hit USD4 billion this year if economic conditions in the country do not improve. The Kingdom's debt would rise to USD24.64 billion by the end of the year from USD20.14 billion.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.