The head of the Parliamentary Administrative Committee, Eng. Yazan Al-Shdaifat, said that the House of Representatives believes in the great importance and responsibility that rests with those in charge of managing the Social Security Investment Fund.

He added, during his chairmanship of a committee meeting, which he held today, Tuesday, to review the administrative and financial reality of the “fund” in the presence of the second deputy speaker of parliament, Nassar Al-Haisah, and the head of the fund, Dr. public for the year 2023.

He pointed out that the Council is concerned with highlighting the positive aspects of any institution that plays its role within the procedures and foundations of wise and rational management.

Al-Shudaifat stressed that the committee is supportive of any approach that would advance the role of the fund, in line with the state’s directions for administrative reform in all its institutions, which enshrines the principle of reward and punishment to achieve the highest standards of justice and transparency among all public sector employees.

In their turn, the deputies: Suleiman Abu Yahya, Muhammad Marayat, Ahmed Al-Qatawneh, Amghair Al-Hamlan, Raed Al-Dhahrawi, Abdullah Awwad, Hayel Ayyash, Ghazi Thuneibat, confirmed that the fund has proven its ability to face many economic and financial challenges that the Jordanian economy suffers from. As a result of the surrounding regional conditions as well as the challenges posed by the effects of the Corona pandemic.

They pointed out the importance of diversifying investment and expanding development to include all social, educational and health services in all governorates of the Kingdom, and to achieve positive financial results and maintain the strength of its financial position.

For his part, Kanakriya said that the Social Security Investment Fund is considered one of the important and sensitive institutions as it is the specialized investment entity that handles the management of the assets of the Social Security Corporation professionally and honestly, in line with the reality of the Jordanian economy.

He indicated that the fund’s assets rose to about 14.2 billion dinars at the end of the first quarter of 2023, compared to 13.8 billion dinars at the end of 2022.

He pointed out that this growth came as a result of the fund’s income from various investments, amounting to about 225 million dinars, and the increase in the evaluation of the strategic stock portfolio, which amounted to about 124 million dinars, in addition to the insurance surplus transferred from the “guarantee” which amounted to about 65 million dinars.

Concerning investing in treasury bonds, Kanakriya stressed that investing in them is considered a safe investment, as they are low-risk instruments with a feasible, stable and guaranteed return, and a relatively flexible exit tool in the event of a desire to sell them.

Globally, pension funds invest in these tools, and this depends on several factors, the most important of which are the size and deadlines of the obligations of retirees, and the life expectancy rates in those countries.

He pointed out that the rate of return on the bond portfolio for the year 2022 amounted to about 5.9 percent, which is one of the highest rates of good returns achieved by the investment tools invested in by the fund, compared to the low level of risk associated with it.

Concerning investment in the Amman Stock Exchange, Kanakrieh said that the fund’s investments in the stock exchange are strategic and distributed among major companies in the banking, industry and services sectors. The value of these investments amounted to about 2.4 billion dinars at the end of the first quarter of this year, constituting 12.5 percent of the total market value of the stock exchange. ..

He added that the fund invests in many vital sectors of added value to the Jordanian economy, most notably banks, mining, pharmaceutical industries, real estate development, tourism, agriculture and development areas.

He pointed out that the Fund’s direct investments provide in a number of sectors about 6,500 quality direct job opportunities for Jordanians, and the Fund’s indirect investments in companies and projects in which these companies invest more than 100,000 direct job opportunities, in addition to indirect job opportunities in sectors related to those investments.

Kanakriya explained that the number of employees working in the fund reaches 120, including 15 directors of directorates and 26 heads of departments. Human resources are managed in the fund in accordance with the provisions of the civil service system.

Kanakrieh concluded that the fund will continue to enhance its investments in vital and beneficial sectors, especially the financial sector, mining, energy, real estate development, tourism and agriculture, and maintain a balance in its investment orientations. With the aim of achieving good returns for the fund, and benefiting from promising investment opportunities, including partnership projects between the public and private sectors, and projects of the vision of economic modernization.