Qatar pledges $500m in economic aid to Jordan

The announcement came just days after Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates vowed $2.5bn in aid to Amman.

Qatar Jordan aid
The package includes opening 10,000 jobs for Jordanian nationals in the Gulf nation as well as investments in infrastructures and Tourism in Jordan. [QNA]

Qatar said on Wednesday it would invest $500m in Jordan, just days after Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia pledged $2.5bn in aid to the Hashemite Kingdom.

The announcement came during a meeting between King Abdullah II of Jordan and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Amman.

The package includes opening 10,000 jobs for Jordanian nationals in the Gulf nation as well as investments in infrastructures and tourism in Jordan.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait extended $2.5bn in aid that will go towards a deposit in Jordan’s central bank to cover World Bank loan guarantees, direct budget support in the form of cash deposits and finance other projects.

The hope is that the five-year aid package, which mirrors a similar aid package offered by Gulf states in 2011, will help Jordan come up with a new, more palatable austerity plan to satisfy international lenders and its public.

The government of Jordan’s Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki resigned after protesters blamed it for Jordan’s economic mismanagement.

King Abdullah has since asked the education minister in the outgoing government Omar al-Razzaz to form the new government.

Razzaz later pledged to scrap the law and engage in dialogue to reach a new consensus on a new tax and economic reform.

Source: Al Jazeera

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