Islamic Development Bank ‘committed to helping Jordan’ in face of refugee crisis

AMMAN — The Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will support Jordan in bearing the impact of the Syrian crisis through soft loans and investment promotion, bank's President Ahmad Mohamed Ali said on Wednesday.

At the London donor conference held on February 4, the IDB pledged to increase financing to countries affected by the Syrian crisis, including Jordan, from $6 billion to $9 billion over the upcoming three years, Ali said in a meeting with the press, without specifying the amount allocated for Jordan.

He added that the IDB has pledged to provide affected countries with soft loans and is to work in coordination with the World Bank on attracting financial guarantees from donor countries to Jordan.

He cited deliberations with the government to finance Jordan’s oil and gas needs through the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, an arm of the IDB, at a value of $150 million. 

Ali made his remarks on the sidelines of the signing ceremony for a cooperation agreement, with Planning Minister Imad Fakhoury, under which the bank undertakes to provide $200,000 to fund a project to develop underprivileged rural communities in Jordan.

The capacity-building project seeks to increase the productivity of rural societies and enhance their economic contributions to national economy. It is co-funded by the German Development Cooperation with $100,000, in addition to in-kind assistance worth $50,000 by the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development.

Fakhoury reviewed the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Jordan, highlighting the role of soft loans in boosting the country’s socioeconomic development based on the Jordan Response Plan 2016-2018.

The minister underscored the importance of the IDB’s funds in sustaining the implementation of priority development projects for citizens and residents.

During his visit to the Kingdom, Ali is scheduled to meet with Palestinian officials to look into means of empowering Palestinian production and families. 

The IDB’s total support to Jordan from 1975 to 2015 reached $975.6 million.