The World Bank is considering providing a second additional financing, worth $322 million, to the Emergency Cash Transfer Project for Families and Workers Affected by the Corona Virus Pandemic in Jordan, which will raise the total financing for the project to $986 million if the new financing is approved.

According to data seen by the Kingdom, the additional financing project “is still under study and is expected to be approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors on February 24, 2022.”

The bank indicated that “the Jordanian government has asked the World Bank for additional financing for the project, and to restructure the parent project, as the additional financing and the proposed restructuring will not include any changes to the project’s development objective.”

On June 25, 2020, the World Bank approved the first phase of the $374 million project to provide cash assistance to 270,000 poor families in Jordan.

And in June 2021, the Bank agreed to provide additional financing for the cash transfer project, worth $290 million, aimed at helping families and workers affected by the Corona pandemic, bringing the total value of the project to $664 million.

The project, which was approved in favor of the National Aid Fund, aims to provide cash support to poor and vulnerable families and workers affected by the Corona pandemic in Jordan, as part of the government’s “Takaful 3” and “Estidama” programs, which target about 160,000 families within the framework of the “Takaful” program. And more than 100,000 workers within the framework of the (Sustainability) program.”

The proposed project will work first to increase the allocations for the cash transfer program (Takaful 1) by about $293 million to expand the number of beneficiaries from it starting in 2022, and secondly to increase allocations to support workers in companies affected by Corona by about $28 million.

The AF modified the project period, extending the original loan closing date by 12 months (from December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2024).

As of last October, the World Bank transferred about $200 million through special payments to the Emergency Cash Transfer Project for families and workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Jordan.

The project also aims to help Jordan address the social and economic repercussions of the crisis resulting from shrinking labor markets, lowering wages and declining income levels, as providing emergency cash transfers to poor and disadvantaged families, including families headed by women, is the basis for enabling them to withstand the crisis and maintain their resilience. and on social stability.

The Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Nasser Al-Shraideh, said in a previous statement: “The Jordanian government is implementing large-scale social protection programs to limit the effects of the Corona pandemic on the most needy groups of Jordanian citizens. This additional financing will enhance the support we provide to these groups in terms of cash transfers, unemployment benefits and wage subsidies through the National Aid Fund and the Public Institution for Social Security.”

The Regional Director of the Mashreq Department of the World Bank Group, Saroj Kumar Jah, said previously, “The World Bank will continue to support Jordanians until the Corona pandemic crisis ends.”