US to increase Jordan aid to $1 billion in 2014
Additional funds meant to boost economy and help with flood of refugees from neighboring Syria
The US government will increase aid to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to $1 billion for the upcoming year, senior Jordanian officials told the London-based Al-Hayat on Friday.
The increase is meant to boost the Jordanian economy and help defray the costs of regional instability, including the flow of Syrian refugees, of which over 500,00 are hosted in the kingdom.
“Jordan needs our support, and we include additional funding for the costs associated with the hundreds of thousands of refugees they have welcomed into the country,” Congresswoman Kay Granger, who chairs the state and foreign operations subcommittee, was quoted by AFP as saying at a hearing last week.
The World Bank announced last week that it would provide $150 million to Jordan in emergency aid to help cope with the flood of refugees.