Jordan has recently requested a $200 million loan from Japan to finance the state budget, a government official told The Jordan Times on Sunday.
The official, who preferred to remain unnamed, indicated that the proposed low-interest loan aims at supporting the 2014 state budget.
In August last year, the Japanese government approved a soft loan to support Jordan’s financing needs worth $156 million.
The loan carried a 0.95 per cent interest rate, with a maturity period of 20 years including a six-year grace period, according to Jafar Hassan, then-minister of planning and international cooperation.
The government official indicated that Jordan received the majority of the loan last year, noting that the remaining amount is expected to be transferred to the Finance Ministry soon.
The government’s policy is to secure soft or low-cost loans to finance the deficit in the state budget to reduce borrowing from local banks, which is costly.
Since 1974, when the Japanese embassy was opened in Amman, Tokyo has provided Jordan with around JD2.8 billion ($4 billion) in official developmental assistance in various fields such as water, environment, health, education and vocational training, according to the figures of the Japanese embassy in Amman.
