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The World Bank is transferring an additional $108 million to Jordan for a project that supports people affected by Corona

Amman Today

publish date 2022-01-03 10:50:42

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The World Bank transferred $108 million as a new payment among the payments for the Emergency Cash Transfer Project for families and workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic in Jordan.

By transferring the new payment, the amounts transferred from the Bank to finance the project amount to about $308 million, which have been transferred in batches, since the project was approved in June 2020.

The new transfer of project payments took place in two installments last December; The first was $38 million, and the second was $70 million, while the previous payment was transferred in the amount of $65 million last September, while the previous payment was transferred last August with a value of $91 million, after transferring $43.26 million in December. December 2020, in addition to other payments that did not exceed one million dollars.

On June 25, 2020, the World Bank approved the first phase of a $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 World Bank is considering providing a second additional financing, amounting to $322 million, for the same project. This raises the total funding for the project to $986 million if the new funding is approved.

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).

World Bank Group President David Malpass visited, in October 2021, the National Aid Fund, to follow up on the work of the cash transfer program in Jordan, and wrote on Twitter: “I welcomed the expansion and improvement in targeting the Takaful program that is financed by the Bank and provides support to the poorest and most vulnerable families.” .

He praised Jordan’s success in implementing the emergency cash transfer program for families and workers affected by the pandemic, and Jordan’s efforts in developing programs aimed at addressing poverty.

Estimates of the World Bank indicated that the emergency cash transfer programs launched by the Jordanian government to support families affected by the Corona pandemic “reduced by 4.5% of the increase in poverty rates resulting from the pandemic.”

The bank added, “Poverty in Jordan was relatively high, and it increased significantly during the Corona pandemic,” explaining that “the official poverty rate before the pandemic in Jordan reached 15.7%.”

He continued, “Early estimates made last year indicated that the potential short-term increase in the national poverty rate may reach 11% for Jordanians; Because of the loss of work and income for families.”

The absolute poverty rate among Jordanians reached 15.7%, representing 1.069 million Jordanians, while the (extreme) hunger poverty rate in Jordan was 0.12%, equivalent to 7,993 Jordanian individuals, according to the latest survey on family income and expenditures carried out by the Department of Statistics (2017-2018). ), while the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Nasser Al-Shraideh, estimated the poverty rate in Jordan at 24% “interim,” an increase of about 6%; due to the repercussions of the Corona virus.

The bank indicated that “the government is working on a plan to integrate all cash transfers under the (Takaful) umbrella; To support poor and vulnerable families in the post-pandemic stage, emergency programs will be suspended in 2022 with an increase in the budget and the number of beneficiaries under the Supplementary Support Program (Takaful) by more than 30,000 families; This will lead to an increase in the coverage of social assistance programs in Jordan with a significant impact on poverty.”

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Jordan Business

Source : ألدستور

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