Saudi will continue to support Jordan economically — ambassador

AMMAN — Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Prince Khaled Bin Faisal Bin Turki on Tuesday highlighted the importance of the Hashemite role in custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, noting that Riyadh's stance accords with Amman's on these issues.

During a meeting organised by the Jordanian-Saudi parliamentary committee, Prince Khaled said that relations between Amman and Riyadh are based on effective coordination between both countries’ leaderships and governments in various fields, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He stressed that Saudi Arabia “will never hesitate” to present the necessary support to Jordan so it can continue its pivotal role in the region, especially under the huge burden stemming from receiving several refugee influxes.

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

Last Thursday, the government signed agreements with the three countries to implement the pledges, which include $1.16 billion in deposits at the CBJ, $550 million in soft financing for development projects, $200 million in credit guarantees to the World Bank to help Jordan secure soft loans and $500 million in grants to support the budget over five years for the implementation of development projects.

On Tuesday, Prince Khaled reiterated his country's continued economic support to the Kingdom through increasing assistance and boosting investments in Jordan.

MP Kheir Abu Saalik, head of the panel, commended the Saudi stances towards Jordan, especially at the Mecca summit, which highlights the “brotherly alliance” between the two countries.

Abu Saalik highlighted the importance of holding similar periodic meetings to further enhance ties and to increase exchanging views on issues of joint interest, Petra added.