JORDAN

The Kingdom of Jordan is a unitary parliamentary monarchy with a two-tier subnational government system. According to the 1952 Constitution and its amendments, executive power is vested in the King and his cabinet, which is chaired by a prime minister (head of the government) appointed by the King. The legislative power lies in the bicameral national assembly, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of the Senate are appointed every four years by the King. The House of Representatives consists of 130 members who are directly elected for a four-year term. The judicial power is exercised by the courts.

The concepts of decentralised system and local governance were introduced with the establishment of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Although the first municipal law in the territory dates back to the Ottoman law of 1877, Jordan remained for decades a highly centralised country where national planning and development processes have been directed by the central government. Moreover, although municipalities were recognised as local government units, they were under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Local Administration which was previously called the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

More recently, Jordan ratified the Local Administration Act of 2021 to unify the legal reference of the decentralisation process and local governance system. The Act repealed the Municipalities Act of 2007, modified in 2015, and the Decentralisation Act of 2015. The new act makes up the current legal framework for decentralisation in the country. The Local Administration Act sets out the responsibilities of the governorate councils, governorate executive councils, and the municipalities, as well as their governing structure and the municipalities’ classification. The Local Administration Act gives power to the decentralisation initiative put forward by the King of Jordan as part of the Jordan Vision 2025, the country’s 10-year strategy to promote decentralisation and local democracy.

The Act provides for the creation of governorate councils at the provincial level, which enjoy financial and administrative independence (art. 3). It also introduces new reforms that are expected to lead to significant changes in Jordan’s governance framework towards decentralisation, through assigning clear mandates to the different subnational levels and enhancing coordination across levels of government. However, it is still early to assess the effectiveness of the new Act in addressing the challenges in governance at the local level. Additionally, in early January 2022, the Jordanian Cabinet approved a decision for the creation of new municipalities. The creation of the new municipalities will be carried out throughout the year 2022, after the unfolding of subnational elections in March 2022.

Although a unified law was approved for local-level governance covering both the governorates’ councils and municipalities, the first report to the Ministry of Interior while the latter are supervised by the Ministry of Local Administration.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
MUNICIPAL LEVEL	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	REGIONAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2021)
100 municipalities and the Greater Amman Municipality		Governorates
Average municipal size: 101 021 inh.
101		12	113

OVERALL DESCRIPTION. Jordan has two levels of subnational governments, composed of 12 governorates at the regional level and 100 municipalities and the Greater Amman Municipality at the municipal level. There is also the Special Economic Zone of Aqaba and the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority. The Independent Elections Commission announced that the next local elections for the governorate and municipal councils, including the Greater Amman Municipality, would be held on 22 March 2022.

REGIONAL LEVEL. Before the approval of the Decentralisation Act in 2015, the 12 governorates were deconcentrated government units whose head, the governor, was appointed by the King. Each ministry and ministerial team worked in coordination with affiliated local agencies to ensure the implementation of policy measures. The 2015 Act established the creation of governorate councils, whose members are partially elected, although the governor and executive council were still appointed. The new Local Administration Act of 2021 sets the share of appointed members of the governorate councils to 40% and ensures that a minimum of 25% of the elected member seats are held by women. The 2021 Act establishes that the elected mayors from municipalities should also be members of the governorate councils.

Governorates are assigned key functions in the decentralisation reforms that Jordan is undergoing and their councils are accountable to both the central government and citizens. Governorates are divided into districts (liwa) which are in turn subdivided into sub-districts (qda). The territorial distribution of the population in Jordan reveals a high concentration in regions with strong economic activity. The three largest governorates in terms of population, Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa, are home to 42%, 19%, and 14% of the national population respectively, resulting in wide regional disparities.

Jordan has two regional hubs: the Aqaba Special Economic Zone that was established in 2001 and the Petra Development and Tourism region which was established in 2009 and is managed by the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA). Both hubs aim to enhance economic activity, in particular trade, tourism, and investment. Although they are not autonomous self-governing bodies, the hubs are financially and administratively independent from the ministry and the governorates. In their respective territorial perimeter, all public services are under the responsibility of ASEZA and PDTRA. Both hubs are managed by a board of commissioners that is composed of five members, including the president and vice-president. The members are appointed by the prime minister and approved by the King.

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: The 100 municipalities are administered by a mayor and a municipal council, elected every four years. The newly issued Local Administration Act of 2021 provides that municipalities are classified into 3 subcategories that condition the financial allocations they receive from the central government. The first category consists of governorate centres and municipalities with more than 200 000 inhabitants and the second category consists of district centers and municipalities with a population between 50 and 200 000 inhabitants. Those that do not fall into either of these two categories are classified as municipalities of the third category. The average population size of the municipalities in Jordan accross all categories is 59 316, with the largest in the first category being Greater Irbid Municipality with a population of 907 675 inhabitants.

The minister of local administration appoints an executive manager at the municipal level among three persons nominated by the municipal council. The manager is responsible for following the day-to-day administrative work and municipality management along with the mayor.

According to the new „Greater Amman Municipality“ law No. 18 that was ratified in 2021, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is divided into electoral districts based on the prime minister’s decision and is governed by a mayor appointed by the prime minister and a council composed of one-third of members appointed by the cabinet of ministers and the remaining members being elected. The law also identifies the main duties of the mayor and of the Amman city manager who is appointed upon a decision from the cabinet of ministers. The population of GAM as per the 2015 Census is of 3.7 million inhabitants. This is almost four times higher than the population of the second largest municipality in the Kingdom.

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: Since the 2015 reforms, municipalities excluding GAM are allowed to form inter-municipal partnerships to improve the delivery of public services. Article 53 of the 2021 Local Administration Act requires the approval of the minister to establish an alliance between two or more municipalities. As per the latest annual report of the Ministry of Local Development (2019), there are 17 inter-municipal councils (joint services councils) operating in the Kingdom.

In addition, local development units were introduced in 2003 at the governorate and municipal levels to engage local stakeholders in local socio-economic development.

Municipal government responsibilities are outlined in the 2021 Local Administration Act. Articles 15 and 16 detail the functions of local councils and the municipalities within their borders, which include local economic development, urban development, planning, upgrading of the public transport system, construction, and management of public facilities, among others. However, the lack of municipal power remains a major challenge. The roles of local councils and mayors are often challenged by upper administrative levels. Urban delegates from ministries or private companies provide most urban services; thus, most municipal functions are limited to the maintenance or supply of part of the basic services.

The GAM has broad responsibilities in service delivery, in particular concerning road networks and facilities; street lighting and traffic management; solid waste management; public transport; agriculture; public markets; social and cultural activities; spatial planning; economic development; and business licensing.

Governorate government responsibilities mainly focus on public order and safety. Governorates usually serve as the provincial offices through which deconcentrated units of line ministries deliver key services, such as education and health, but also water, electricity, and transportation. Appointed governors may act on all local affairs without consulting mayors, and municipalities are not involved by the agencies that provide services in urban areas, in particular water and electricity. In addition, mayors need the governor’s approval for any activity within their jurisdiction. As per the 2021 Local Administration Act, the governorate councils have planning responsibilities over the development needs of their governorates.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Regional level	Municipal level
1. General public services (administration)	Public buildings and facilities	Administration and operation of general services;Public buildings and facilities
2. Public order and safety	Civil Protection; Police department	Traffic signs and lights, Development of emergency plans
3. Economic affairs/transports	Duty-Free Zones development; Energy (renewable energy use); Public transport; regional road networks and facilities; Communications / IT; Tourism	Management and investment in municipal assets and funds; Create an investment environment, Develop sustainable development programs, Local road networks and facilities; Public markets regulation
4. Environment protection	Sewerage (wastewater management)	Parks & green areas; Solid Waste management; Street cleaning; Sewerage (wastewater management)
5. Housing and community amenities	Drinking water distribution	Street Paving; Public lighting; Drinking water distribution; Urban and land use planning and management; Slaughterhouses; drinking water distribution, building licenses
6. Health	Hospital services; Primary healthcare (medical centers) (Shared)	Primary and preventive healthcare (medical centers); Food and water quality control (Shared)
7. Culture & Recreation	Cultural activities (planning and management); Cultural heritage (archaeological site management), Religious sites	Museum; Libraries, Cultural Centers
8. Education	Educational buildings, equipment, and human resources (Shared)	School construction (shared)
9. Social Welfare	Elderly, Orphans and Homeless Centers (Shared)

Scope of fiscal data: Municipalities and the Greater Amman Municipality

SNA 2008

Availability of fiscal data: Medium

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: Medium

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: Following the changes introduced by the 2015 Decentralisation Act and the 2021 Local Administration Act, fiscal decentralisation to the governorate councils is an ongoing process. The 2021 Act expanded their fiscal responsibilities to include the preparation of a four-year governorate budget, the suggestion of service, investment, and development-related projects and the follow-up on implementation of the proposed projects. The main elements of fiscal decentralisation at the governorate level are allocation of expenditure assignments in accordance with the functions transfered; budget planning and approval; and budget execution and audit.

Municipalities have the right to manage their own resources and prepare, execute and audit their own budgets in accordance with the competencies assigned to them, but they must coordinate their action with the Ministry of Local Administration and some decisions with financial impact need the approval of the minister.

The Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB), created in 1979 to assist municipalities in providing public services and managing local and international funding, has the mandate to prepare municipality accounts and finance income-generating projects for the municipalities since 2010. The CVDB receives all the central government transfers that are directed to the municipal sector at the end of each month from the related account at the Ministry of Finance. In 2017, the Fiscal Decentralisation Unit was created within the Ministry of Finance to oversee the fiscal decentralisation process.

Subnational government expenditure by economic classification
2020	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total expenditure	238	2.3%	6.4%	100.0%
Inc. current expenditure	158	1.5%	4.7%	66.4%
Compensation of employees	116	1.1%	9.9%	49.1%
Intermediate consumption	26	0.3%	10.7%	10.9%
Social expenditure	0.4	0.00%	0.7%	0.2%
Subsidies and current transfers	0.8	0.01%	0.1%	0.4%
Financial charges	13	0.1%	4.2%	5.5%
Others	0.9	0.01%	0.2%	0.4%
Incl. capital expenditure	80	0.8%	23.4%	33.6%
Capital transfers	30	0.3%	-	12.6%
Direct investment (or GFCF)	50	0.5%	-	20.9%

EXPENDITURE: Jordanian municipal government expenditures account for a small share of general public expenditure (6.4%). In 2020, municipalities (including the GAM) dedicated most of their spending to current expenditures (66.4%), including staff expenditures (49% of SNG expenditure). The share of subnational staff expenditure in SNG expenditure is above the OECD averages (36.4% in 2020), although it is well below regarding its share in total public staff expenditure (75.8% on average in the OECD in 2020). In most local governments, staff salaries remain under the limits set for this expenditure item according to the fiscal rules in the country. Intermediate consumption is the second major current expenditure following the compensation of employees, amounting to 10.9% of the subnational government expenditures.

Of all the municipalities, the GAM has the largest budget, with 2020 expenditures of JD 411.3 million being significantly higher than the other 100 municipalities put together. GAM expenditures in 2020 represented 57.6% of the 101 municipalities total expenditures put together.

With respect to governorates, their autonomy concerning expenditure and investments remains de facto very limited, even though the legal framework established since 2015 and reaffirmed in 2021 states that governorate councils should enjoy administrative and financial autonomy.

DIRECT INVESTMENT: Municipalities and governorates play a limited role in public investment. Municipal capital expenditure represent less than 25% of the total capital expenditure of the general government, and municipal investment in particular account for around 21% of total municipal expenditure in 2020.

There are strong disparities among local governments: At the municipal level, the share of capital expenditure in total municipal expenditure is the least (15%) for the municipalities within the first category (municipalities of governorate centres and municipalities with more than 200 000 inhabitants), while it reached 19% for both category 2 and 3 municipalities.This can be explained with the higher percentage share of staff expenditures for the municipalities in the first category out of total expenditures in 2020 (64%) compared to 58% and 55% for the second and third category municipalities respectively. In Greater Amman for example, in 2020, the share of development and capital investment expenditure reached 46% of the total GAM expenditures. The GAM investment and development expenditure in 2020 was almost threefold the investment expenditure of the other 100 municipalities put together.

Governorates have recently prepared Strategic Development Plans for 2020-2023, showing the development indicators at the sectoral level, the development goals to be achieved during the period, the projects, and their costs at sectoral and geographical levels. These plans have been developed by the local development units at the governorate level to promote a bottom-up approach to strategic planning.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

According to the expenditures listed in Articles 5, 11 and 32 of the 2021 Local Administration Act, as well as the competencies assigned to them, municipalities and governorates devote the bulk of their expenditures to economic and development affairs.

In 2020, GAM expenditures on transport related activities reached almost 20% of the total capital expenditures (JD 187.9 million), a similar share of the spending deidcated to general public services (20.2%), while expenditure related to environmental protection, public health, recreation, culture and religion reached 2.2% of total capital expenditure.

Subnational government revenue by category
2020	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total revenue	200	1.9%	6.4%	100.0%
Tax revenue	66	0.6%	3.8%	33.1%
Grants and subsidies	38	0.4%	-	18.8%
Tariffs and fees	64	0.6%	-	32.2%
Income from assets	3	0.03%	-	1.6%
Other revenues	29	0.3%	-	14.3%

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: The financial resources of municipal governments are listed in article 24 of the 2021 Local Administration Act. They consist of taxes and fees, revenue from investment projects, own revenue, and grants and donations. In 2020, municipalities’ revenues came from local taxation on property, fees and charges, and transfers from the central government including fuel taxes and shares of registration of motor vehicles and traffic violations tickets. Municipalities have control over certain fees (e.g., waste collection, building permits), which represented around 32% of local revenues in 2020, but they face challenges regarding fees enforcement and collection. Central government transfers, mandatory according to the law, identified as per articles 288 and 29 and distributed as per article 30 of the Local Administration Act, represent a significant share of municipal budgets, up to 18.8% overall.

Governorates still lack real autonomy to manage their own budgets since they are deprived of the possibility of collecting direct revenues in the form of taxes or duties. Governorates receive their revenues in the form of transfers from the central level as well as donations and grants from international donors that require prior approval of the council of ministers.

TAX REVENUE: In Jordan, most taxes are determined and collected by the central government on behalf of the local government, except for the property tax (musaqafat). The central government also plays a role in determining the share of these taxes (fuel and property taxe) transferred to municipalities through the Ministry of Local Administration. In 2020, tax revenue represented almost 33% of the subnational government revenue.

As specified in the 2021 Local Administration Act, the central government must transfer to the municipalities 50% of the fees and taxes levied on oil products imported or produced in the country (art. 28). These revenues are distributed based on several allocation criteria defined by the cabinet: the category of the municipality; the municipality populated area and population; the percentage of municipal contribution to revenue collection; location and geographical nature; municipal needs in terms of development projects; constraints on municipal resources; responsibilities that do not fall within the local domain; poverty and unemployment rate; comparative and competitive advantages; the distinction in the exercise of its functions and responsibilities and the implementation of employment generation projects; and the achievement of the standards of the municipalities motivation awards.

On the other hand, municipalities collect directly only one type of tax which is the property tax (musaqafat). The property tax is a municipal tax levied at 15% on the estimated annual rental value of the property. The estimated rental value is assessed every five years by the tax authorities.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES: Overall, municipalities are heavily dependent on central government transfers, which have increased steadily, in particular since 2014. Indeed, while transfers account for 18.8% of local revenues overall, for the 100 municipalities excluding GAM, this amount reached JD 81 million in 2020 and represented 29.1% of their total revenue. Transfers correspond to two sources of revenue that by law belong to the local government, namely local governments‘ 40% share of registration of motor vehicles and 50% of revenues from the taxes and fees on oil products either imported or produced in the country.

OTHER REVENUE: Municipalities also obtain revenues from sources such as social contributions, revenues from production projects of products and services, interest revenues, and financial investments revenues. The GAM also receives revenue from loan settlements with the central government. In 2020, these revenue categories combined accounted for 14.3% of the municipalities' revenues.

Subnational government fiscal rules and debt
2020	Dollars PPP / inh.	% GDP	% general government debt	% SNG debt	% SNG financial debt
Total outstanding debt	198	1.9%	1.7%	100.0%	-
Financial debt	198	1.9%	2.1%	-	100.0%
Currency and deposits	-	-	-	-	-
Bonds / debt securities	-	-	-	-	-
Loans	-	-	-	-	-
Insurance pensions	-	-	-	-	-
Other accounts payable	-	-	-	-	-

FISCAL RULES: The 2021 Local Administration Act is the governing legislation for local finance. Each municipality’s annual budget has to be approved by the minister of local development of municipal affairs. Municipal expenditure cannot exceed revenues in the budget. Article 11 of the Act indicates that 40% of the total governorate budget should be devoted to development projects, while article 32 limits the salaries expenditures to 40% of the total budget of each municipality.

Additionally, as specified in article 56 of the 2021 Local Administration Act, the governorates and municipal councils' accounts must be audited by the Ministry of Local Development and are inspected by the Audit Bureau.

Ongoing actions to support the decentralisation process include the preparation of regulations, such as rules of procedure and fiscal rules to govern the actions of the governorate councils, and the elaboration of manuals for capacity building and budget preparation and execution at the local level. Additionally, and as stipulated in article 55 of the Local Administration Act, the minister of local administration can establish a training institute for capacity building at the local level.

DEBT: Municipal councils require the approval of the minister of local administration to borrow from any entity. When the loan is to be guaranteed by the central government, they also need the approval of the cabinet. Municipalities may finance capital expenditure by borrowing from the Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB), which acts as a fiscal intermediary for grant administration and a lending agency in the municipal sector. The bank provides loans and technical and administrative expertise for development and investment projects for the municipal sector. Compared to 25 loans with a total value of JD 32.5 million approved in 2018, the CVDB provided 39 loans for local administrations in 2019, with a total value of JD 23.8 million, the majority of which were for infrastructure projects and land acquisitions.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: Since February 2020, Jordan has managed the coronavirus crisis by implementing the 1992 Defense Law No. (13), which pertains to defending the country from any national security or general safety threats, namely war, social disorder or an outbreak of a plague or epidemic. According to Article 3 (A), the prime minister is entrusted to implement this law and to take the necessary measures and procedures to secure public safety and defend Jordan without being bound by the provisions of the regular laws in force.

In this framework, the pandemic was managed centrally with the National Center for Security and Crisis Management (NCSCM) playing a leading role and closely supervised and monitored by His Majesty King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah. The NCSCM is an umbrella organisation under the Royal Court established in 2015 to coordinate and unify efforts by national institutions during national crises. The National Policies Council (NPC) was another significant structure in coordinating among governmental units and emphasising social protection consideration. The Jordanian government has unified and coordinated efforts by composing a coronavirus crisis cell within the NCSCM’s structure, including permanent and interval stakeholders. The Jordanian National Committee for Epidemics, which was established in 1984 to research and examine epidemics in the world, was activated and its meetings became more frequent. It spearheaded Jordan’s virus response, assessing the epidemiological situation in the country and recommending policy measures accordingly. The committee includes representatives from the military, public, private and health sectors to share experiences and work with the epidemiological experts. In addition, in March 2020, the cabinet created 10 inter-ministerial teams to cover different dimensions of the crises. In mid-April, royal directives created a steering committee overseeing the expansion of local production of food, medicine and medical supplies. The National Center for Disease Control, established in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, has financial and administrative independence with the prime minister acting as the head of its council.

The minister of local administration, in partnership with UNDP, set up a network of local governments to deliver a sub-national response to the COVID-19 crisis. A mayors’ WhatsApp group for over 100 municipal mayors across the country has been activated to disseminate key messaging related to health, psychosocial advice, environment, gender, and other topics directly related to the pandemic. The mayors’ network played a pivotal role in distributing these messages to municipal staff and community members, towards building community resilience and alleviating the response burden on the central government while strengthening the role of municipal administration.

Progress made by Jordan’s decentralisation law have helped in managing the pandemic at the local level when needed. For instance, when the governorate of Irbid became an epicenter of COVID-19, the governorate was quarantined by decision of the military. The authorities sealed off the city and province of Irbid and security forces reportedly blocked mobility to and from the province while villages within the governorate were isolated from one another. During a press briefing at the National Center for Security and Crisis Management, the minister of State for media affairs noted that necessities and services would be delivered to all the areas under lockdown in Irbid. During this period, the governor of Irbid was the leading head of the pandemic response in their region.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT: Measures were implemented by the Jordanian government to curb the economic consequences of COVID-19, which include increased funding to affected sectors, tax provisions, the implementation of loan programs, and law orders to protect employers and employees. These measures started at the onset of the pandemic with the release of Defense Order No. 1 on 18 March 2020 suspending old-age insurance payment for private sector employees for three months, reducing social security subscription ratio from 21.75% to 5.25% and allocating 50% of maternity insurance revenues to daily wage workers and the elderly. Additionally, Himmat Watan Fund was created through Defense Order No. 4 on 31 March 2020 to receive donations from the private sector, individuals and other institutions. Under the 1992 Defense Law, Order No. 6, issued on 8 April 2020, stipulated that all workers were entitled to their full wages for the period between March 18 and 31. Moreover, the government granted incentives to employers obligated to pay workers' wages in full, in addition to economic protection programs, according to set conditions. It also provided necessary support to secure the basic needs of Jordanian day workers who are not registered with the Social Security Corporation (SSC). Bewteen April 15 and 16, the government outlined programs to support non-working employees, businesses, freelancers, and daily wage workers. The program expired by the end of 2020.

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) decided to adopt a bundle of precautionary procedures starting March 2020 aiming at containing the negative repercussions of COVID-19 on the local economy. These measures are summarised into: allowing banks to restructure the loans of individuals and companies, especially medium and small ones, which have been affected by the repercussions of this virus. The CBJ program injected additional liquidity in the amount of JD 1 050 million into the national economy by reducing reserve requirements, reduced the financing costs and increased the maturities of the existing and future credit facilities to the economic sectors including small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Jordanian municipalities took part in the COVID-19 response during the early months of the pandemic by distributing bread and delivering medicine, disinfecting public spaces, and monitoring stores.

The GAM Response Plan included different measures such as nominating representatives for the National Center for Security and Crisis Management, establishing crisis committees, activating the priority services, making available related health and safety equipment for GAM employees, supervising the implementation of the related health measures within GAM, disinfecting publics buildings and spaces, broadcasting awareness messages and implementing awareness workshops, preparing cemeteries and intensifying the health monitoring campaigns. Some of these measures are no longer under implementation.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: The COVID-19 crisis was detrimental to subnational government revenues. The lockdown that was imposed from March until May 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Jordan implied an increase in the operating costs of municipalities due to shifting scarce resources to provide emergency supplies for disinfection activities in municipalities. The lockdown and closure of government services have also implied delays in the reception by municipalities of their fiscal transfers, coupled with a significant reduction in self-generated revenues. During the period 2018-2020, municipalities‘ revenues witnessed a drop of almost 20% due to a fall in tax revenue and charges and fees. On the other hand, local expenditure witnessed an increase by almost 35%, which therefore widened the budget deficit during this period. Before the central government transfers, the 100 municipalities excluding GAM had a budget surplus of JD 52 million in 2018, a deficit of JD 61.4 million in 2019, and a deficit of JD 118.5 million in 2020. The debt of the 100 municipalities increased from JD 61.4 million in 2018 to JD 83.2 million in 2020.

External grants to the general government level also witnessed a decline during the COVID-19 crisis, from JD 736.5 million in 2019 to JD 596.6 million in 2020. In March 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a USD 1.3 billion four-year program for Jordan, as the Kingdom committed to making structural reforms to ease business and encourage youth hiring. A few months later, the IMF approved another USD 396 million loan for the country to address pressing financing needs due to the pandemic. The EU has committed USD 50 million to support the World Health Organisation's (WHO) efforts to strengthen primary healthcare services under the Jordan Health Programme for Syrian Refugees & Vulnerable Jordanians. This funding aims to support the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic while expanding access to services to vulnerable Jordanians and Syrian refugees.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: The Defence Order No. 24 on December 2020 established a new programme named Istidama to safeguard the employment within the private sector. The financing of the program was ensured in collaboration by the government and the SSC. Announcement No. 42 on 22 August 2021 established a sub program of Istidama called Taafi, through which employees of certain pre-identified sectors are entitled the entirety of their remuneration of which 70% is paid by the enterprise and 30% is paid by Istidama program. The period of this program was five months starting August 2021 and ending in December 2021. An announcement came to extend the Istidama program until June 2022 and concurrently extended the financing by JD 20 million, of which the SSC contribution is 50%.

The CBJ launched a loan program benefiting micro firms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with interest rates not exceeding 2%, a grace period of one year and a loan period of 42 months. The government dedicated JD 500 million (or USD 2 million) to finance this facilitation program guaranteed by the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation (JLGC). This program was later extended to support large firms. Furthermore, the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) also launched two programs worth JD 680 000 (or USD 959 099) to support local SMEs in sectors directly affected by or involved in the pandemic. In addition, the government also allocated JD 10 million (or USD 14.1 million) in zero-interest loans to farmers with a five-year grace period and assisted the banking system by cutting the compulsory reserve ratio from 7 to 5%. These programs are still running.