King meets Gulf officials as Mecca summit deals signed

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday received the finance ministers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, who were visiting Jordan to follow up on the outcomes of the Mecca summit held in June to support the Kingdom’s economy, a Royal Court statement said. 

At the meeting, King Abdullah thanked the three countries for their ongoing support for Jordan to enable it to cope with the economic burden it is shouldering as a result of regional crises.

His Majesty affirmed the deep-rooted, brotherly ties between Jordan and these countries.

Under the 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).

The government on Thursday signed agreements with the three countries to implement the pledges, which are: $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.

Kuwait has also announced plans to reschedule $300 million worth of loans for a period of 40 years.

All these measures combined aim to strengthen Jordan’s economy, attract foreign investments and maintain monetary stability.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, Adviser to His Majesty and Director of the Office of His Majesty Manar Dabbas, Adviser to His Majesty for Economic Affairs Mohammad Al Eses, Finance Minister Ezzedine Kanakrieh, Planning Minister Mary Kawar and the ambassadors of the three countries in Amman attended the meeting.