Development bank head predicts millions in lockdown losses for Kingdom’s municipalities

AMMAN — Director General of the Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB) Osama Azzam on Wednesday said that he expects the losses of the Kingdom’s municipalities to exceed JD25 million per month for each month of lockdown.

Azzam attributed these expected losses to the decrease in fuel revenues and traffic violations, in addition to further expenses incurred by the municipalities in sterilisation operations and purchasing equipment for the purpose of curbing COVID-19, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The CVDB, under the supervision of Minister of Local Administration Walid Masri, has strengthened the capacities of the municipalities to be able to carry out their work during the current crisis, he said, noting that the support took the form of emergency loans for all municipalities of the Kingdom.

The budgets of Jordan’s municipalities amounted to around JD460 million during 2019, including grants.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz had agreed to Masri’s recommendation to appoint Azzam as acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Local Administration, in addition to his current position, following the resignation of former Secretary General Bassem Tarawneh, Petra reported.