Saudi fund grants Jordan $50m loan to build new schools

AMMAN — The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) granted Jordan a $50-million concessional loan to support the establishment of new public schools in different parts of the Kingdom under an agreement signed on Thursday.

Signed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mohamad Al-Ississ and SFD Vice President and Managing Director Khalid Bin Sulaiman Al Khudairi, the loan agreement is part of Saudi Arabia’s commitments to the Kingdom last year during the Mecca summit.

Under the Mecca summit pledges, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE agreed to provide a $2.5-billion economic aid package to Jordan over five years. 

The package seeks to support the budget, fund development projects, provide credit guarantees to enable Jordan to secure international financing and place deposits in the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ).

The signing ceremony was attended by Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Prince Khaled Bin Faisal Bin Turki and Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Walid Maani.

Al-Ississ expressed his gratitude and appreciation for “Saudi Arabia and its people for their constant support to Jordan over the years”.

“We have strong bilateral ties and an exceptional relationship with Saudi Arabia that was embedded and strengthened by efforts exerted by His Majesty King Abdullah and his brother King Salman Bin Abdulaziz,” Al-Ississ told the press in remarks at the Planning Ministry following the signing ceremony.

Al-Ississ praised Saudi Arabia’s contribution to implementing strategic projects that “are of high priority” to Jordan, in addition to development projects that help mitigating pressures on the Kingdom ensuing from the burden of hosting refugees.

The planning minister added: “We are hopeful that this loan will contribute to minimising the pressure on the education and health services”.

Khudairi stressed that the grant is a clear expression “of the strong ties between the Saudi and Jordanian people”.

“We are hopeful that this project will have a direct impact on improving the education services in Jordan,” Khudairi added.

Also addressing reporters on Thursday, ambassador Turki reiterated his country’s commitment to “stand by Jordan and support its economy”.

For his part, Maani said that one of the SFD’s goals is to increase the quality and efficiency of education in the Kingdom through building schools and developing their infrastructure.

Maani noted that the ministry had to rent schools in the last years to meet the increasing demand from Syrian refugees, “so this grant came at the right time”.

Established in 1974, the SFD’s main objectives are to participate in financing development projects in developing countries by granting them the necessary loans and technical aid necessary for financing studies and institutional support and financing and guaranteeing the national non-crude oil exports.