Category: General

The Lower House Monday passed by majority vote the draft general budget law and the budgets of government units for the fiscal year 2022, after a marathon debate.

In a session chaired by Speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi and attended by Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh and cabinet ministers, 86 MPs out of 105 who attended voted for the general budget bill, while 79 out of 101 voted for the government units’ budget draft.

A highlight of the vote was the endorsement of a reduction in public expenditures by JD74 million, JD15 million of which from general budget expenditures and JD59 million from the expenditures of government units.

The bills will go to the Senate, and if passed, they will get the seal of approval by a royal decree and be published in the official Gazette.

Finance Minister Mohamad Ississ earlier addressed the lawmakers on their proposals about the bills, where total expenditures in the general budget are projected at JD10.6 billion plus JD1.5 billion for government units. General budget revenues are estimated at JD8.9 billions- 68% of which are taxes, 10% foreign grants and 22% non-tax revenues- while revenues in the government units’ budget are forecast at about JD860 million, about JD100 million down from last year.

The lawmakers’ deliberations over the past days revolved around raising workers’ and pensioners’ salaries which are less than 300 dinars, fairness in Ministry of Education appointments, elevating the performance of the transport, agriculture, tourism and energy sectors, reducing water loss, removing impediments to investment, launching mega projects in partnership with the private sector, collecting funds owed to the treasury, a comprehensive and fair health insurance, revisiting electricity generation agreements as well as loans to university students and releasing administrative detainees.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordan on Monday will partake in the 5th Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS 2022), the North Africa and the Mediterranean’s most important oil and gas exhibition, held in Cairo to tackle the strategies that will reshape the global energy markets.

A statement by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that minister Saleh Kharabsheh will join the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum, the Yemeni Minister of Oil and Minerals, and the President of the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority, in a meeting to identify solutions and bring up a recovery plan to ensure the prosperity and stability of energy supplies.

The two-day Petroleum Show will also tackle the challenges facing the petroleum sector and global transformations in this regard, mainly post the coronavirus pandemic, as well as means of confronting climate change, and the significance of empowering women in the energy industry.

During the exhibition, oil and gas professionals will convene to engage in dialogue on how to promote petroleum projects, and find ways to deal with the sector’s digital transformation.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A total of 136 new families were included in the National Aid Fund (NAF)’s recurring monthly financial aid program in January.

The recurring monthly aid was stopped for 827 families, and reduced for 71 families, while the number of cases affiliated with the program that were surveyed reached 5,275 families, according to the NAF’s January business report.

The report said that 460 new families benefited from the “regular and immediate” emergency financial aid program, 43 new families benefited from the physical rehabilitation program, and 46 families benefited from vocational training programs for children of beneficiary families, while the number of field inspection visits to families benefiting from the financial aid program “Supplementary Aid” reached 136.

The report indicated that the cash transfer by mail included the receipt of 74,950 families through an ATM card, and the NAF’s Support Center received 80076 calls related to a complaint or inquiry, while the number of closed cases amounted to 59,046.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Royal Jordanian Geographic Center (RJGC) and the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance bilateral cooperation.

Under the MoU, signed by RJGC Director General Colonel Muammar Haddadin and AARINENA Executive Secretary General Redha Khawaldeh, the two associations will boost cooperation in research fields, organize training programs of common interest and cooperate to implement and facilitate joint work.

Also, the MoU will facilitate the provision of economic advisory services and technical support for both parties, in addition to the organization of relevant seminars and workshops.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The volume of registered investments in free and development zones across the Kingdom in 2021 reached about JD2.485 billion, an increase by 0.4 percent, according to Chairman of the Jordan Free and Development Zones Group (JFDZG) Khalaf Hmeisat.

Speaking to Petra on Sunday, Hmeisat said that the growth of investment volume is not financially represented, but rather through its economic importance as free and development zones attract investments categorized into economic, commercial, industrial, tourism and service areas.

“This has contributed to providing about 27 thousand direct and indirect job opportunities for local communities hosting the Kingdom’s free and development zones,” he added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A slight rise in temperatures to 4 degrees above annual average is expected on Sunday, bringing sunny but cold weather conditions in most parts of the country, with southeasterly moderate to brisk winds, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily update.

On Monday, colder weather will prevail countrywide with clouds at low altitudes, mainly in the northern and central regions, with a chance for scattered showers and northwesterly moderate to brisk winds.

Similar cold weather will persist on Tuesday despite a slight rise in mercury levels, with low-altitude clouds and northwesterly moderate winds.

The maximum and minimum temperatures in Amman today will range between 17 degrees Celsius, dipping into 3C at night, while the Gulf of Aqaba will see a fair 25C, dropping to 10C during night hours.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordan participated in the meetings of the 4th Arab Sustainable Development Week, which kicked off Sunday at the Arab League in Cairo.

Jordan’s ambassador to Egypt and permanent representative to the Arab League, Amjad Adaileh, chaired the Jordanian delegation participating in the gathering, as well as ministerial delegations from Arab countries and regional and international organizations, most notably the United Nations, the World Bank and the European Union.

The three-day Arab event, held under the theme “Together for Sustainable Recovery” and under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, will discuss ways to mitigate the negative impacts and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on achieving sustainable development goals in Arab countries.

Lamia Zu’bi, Director of Development Plans and Programs at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, said that the Jordanian participation in this Arab event is part of Jordan’s keenness to work towards strengthening joint Arab cooperation in light of rapid economic and social conditions and changes that impose more challenges and burdens and negatively affect governments’ efforts toward achieving sustainable development.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Amman Court of First Instance convicted three people, including a government employee, on charges of forging 105 work permits and put the suspects behind bars for 5 years.

Issuing its ruling during a public session held Sunday, the court fined the defendants JD45 thousand, which is the loss accrued to state Treasury due to violating the work-regulating laws, per the indictment sheets.

On the case details, a government employee working in an official department was found by an internal monitoring staffer to have hidden 10 financial receipts paid to issue the work permits, the ruling reads.

In addition, the defendant used his powers to issue work permits to establishments multiple times in violation of their original licenses.

On charges of the two other defendants, the court said the two citizens, who were authorized by their institutions involved in the case, had “morally” supported to fake the documents to issue additional work permits illegally.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A Senate joint committee on Sunday approved a draft law on professional licences within the Greater Amman Municipality for 2022, as referred by the Lower House, with some necessary amendments to protect the investment environment.

The joint session, which brought together the Upper Chamber’s Legal, Financial and Economic committees, was chaired by Senator Ahmed Tbishat.

Under its mandating reasons, the draft law came to regulate professions within the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) areas and to define the necessary responsibilities, powers and requirements.

The bill also aims to orchestrate GAM’s efforts with competent authorities to create the “appropriate” environment to attract investments through “modern and advanced” legislation and revive e-services provided jointly to beneficiaries.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A total of 614,763 household electric meters have registered on the newly launched e-platform-kahraba.gov.jo- until Sunday morning, to benefit from government electricity subsidies, according to data announced by Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC).

Jordanian subscribers, who registered on the electricity subsidy link, accounted for 98.61% so far, while the number of Gazans residing in Jordan reached 1.32%. Percentage of temporary Jordanian passport holders hit 0.8%, the EMRC figures showed.

To date, the gov’t e-platform to benefit from the subsidized electric tariff for the household sector received 1, 481 observations, inquiries and complaints, which are “addressed gradually,” the EMRC said.

Source: Jordan News Agency