‘Gov’t expects $1.5b in grants, loans until June 2016’

AMMAN — The government expects to receive about $1.5 billion in financial assistance, grants and loans between July of this year and June 2016, an official said Monday. 

The figure was also included in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report that was recently issued after the completion of the seventh and final review under the Stand-By Arrangement. 

In the first seven months of this year, the volume of grants and soft loans committed to Jordan by donor partners was $1.061 billion, according to a recent statement by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. 

The value of grants was $632 million, while low-interest loans amounted to $429 million, the ministry said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times earlier this month. 

In addition, the official, who preferred to remain unnamed, told The Jordan Times that the government will issue a $500-million non-guaranteed eurobond in the fourth quarter of this year, likely in October.

In June, Jordan issued US-guaranteed bonds worth $1.5 billion on the international market, $1 billion of which is for a seven-year term, due in 2022, and the $0.5 billion for a 10-year term, due in 2025.

The interest rate for the seven-year term bonds was 2.58 per cent, while the interest rate for the 10-year bonds stands at 3 per cent, with the interest for each issue to be paid every six months until the maturity date.