EBRD considering $130m project to support Kingdom’s food security

AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering financing a $130-million project in Jordan to support the emergency response to food security.

According to data received by Al Mamlaka TV, the EBRD is expected to approve the project during its meeting in early September.

The bank said that the loan will be extended to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply due to its responsibility for international and national procurements and storing, selling and distributing wheat and barley in Jordan.

The loan will finance the needs of workers concerned with buying grains and will support the expansion of grain storage in a “strategic way” across the Kingdom.

The bank noted that the project aims to support the government by providing a loan to ensure the availability of liquidity necessary to buy grains and expand the strategic capacity to store grains and contribute to the food security of the country in response to the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, which has contributed to interruptions in grain supplies and “remarkable price hikes”.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Shamali stressed that the Kingdom’s wheat reserve is enough for almost 14 months, stressing that the government will continue subsidising the commodity despite the international price hikes.

Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh on Wednesday stressed the importance of moving forward in implementing necessary procedures to provide enough stocks of food and basic items, out of the government’s commitment to realising food security requirements, maintaining strategic reserves and providing commodities to citizens in light of global changes.

Shamali said that the prime minister called for providing a report regarding three main points: The availability of main commodities, annual consumption rate and the import and local production.

The minister also said that the Kingdom on Tuesday bought 120,000 tonnes of wheat, noting that global prices have started to drop.

Jordan has a barley reserve that is enough for more than 10 months, Al Mamlaka added.

The EU stressed that its support for the Kingdom in its procedures to alleviate the impacts of price hikes of food items as a result of the Russian war in Ukraine, where the EU had previously announced offering 25 million euros to Jordan to support its response to higher prices as a result of the war.