European bank grants 102 million euros loan to Jordan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said Thursday it will provide a 102 million euros loan to the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) in Jordan.

The loan will be provided in two tranches and will include the refinancing of existing debt as well as financing for the most pressing investment needs, given the rapidly increasing volume of waste.

A £5 million investment grant from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) will co-finance the first committed tranche, worth 50 million euros.

The second uncommitted instalment of up to 50 million euros is expected to be supplemented by an additional amount of up to 50 million euros co-financed by several donors including DFID, the European Union, the United States Agency for International Development and others.

Jordan hosts around 1.3 million refugees from Syria who have fled their homes, of whom more than 400,000 are living in Amman alone. This is creating enormous pressure on municipal services in Jordan's capital.

The EBRD financing will increase the capacity of the city and the municipality to address the most urgent needs as well as to strengthen long-term resilience.

Development of solid waste infrastructure is urgently required to address a 25 per cent increase in the levels of waste generation.

This modernisation will lead to improved services and reduce the environmental and social impact of a sharp rise in the number of people living in and around Amman.

In 2015, the EBRD provided a 18 million U.S. dollars loan to the Greater Amman Municipality to help manage solid waste, generate electricity and reduce CO2 emissions, all of which have substantial environmental impacts.

Jordan became an EBRD shareholder in 2012 and to date the Bank has committed 613 million U.S. dollars across 29 projects in various sectors of the economy, in addition to 95 million U.S. dollars of trade facilitation credit lines with local banks. Endit