Jordan, U.S. Sign $845.1 Million Grant Agreement for National Budget Support

Amman: A signing event on Tuesday marked the annual United States grant agreement to bolster the national budget, totaling $845.1 million. The accord was inked by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Zeina Touqan, and Leslie Reed, the Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Jordan. Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh and United States Ambassador Yael Lempert attended the ceremony. Touqan expressed the government's gratitude for the support, emphasizing its role in advancing development priorities and economic reforms outlined in the Economic Modernization Vision (2023-2025) and the Public Sector Modernization Roadmap. The cash grant, part of the annual U.S. economic aid program, aligns with the strategic memorandum of understanding signed in September 2022 for a seven-year period (2023-2029), amounting to an anticipated $10 billion. Touqan highlighted the funds' allocation to various sectors, emphasizing its contribution to reducing the general budg et deficit. Additionally, the U.S. Congress earmarked an extra $200 million beyond the agreed-upon annual support rates within the 2023 budget. In a speech during the signing ceremony, Lempert said: "The assistance provided by the United States, including this $845.1 million direct cash support grant, demonstrates the United States' deep and enduring commitment to the Jordanian people." She added: "We support local reform efforts in Jordan, which aim to achieve ambitious goals in terms of creating job opportunities, providing a stable financial base for the Kingdom, strengthening the private sector as the main engine of the economy, and helping to reduce the water crisis that is exacerbated as a result of climate change." The American Ambassador stressed that "thanks to the aid provided today, and throughout the life of the memorandum of understanding - through which the United States intends to provide more than one billion US dollars in aid every year for seven years - our Jordanian partners can rely on the United States to support them and help them transform these goals into fact." For her part, Reed noted that the US-Jordanian partnership brings wide-ranging benefits to the Jordanian people. "We are working together to improve the quality of life for millions across the Kingdom by improving access to health care, education, and water," Reed said. Source: Jordan News Agency