EU gives Jordan 2 grants

The Jordanian government and the European Union today signed two grant agreements worth 40 million euros. The first, worth 30 million euros, has been added to the grant of a programme being implemented to support the reforms in the education sector worth 33 million raising the total value of the programme to of 63 million euros. According to a statement issued by the Jordanian Ministry of Planning, this European support aims to help the government of Jordan to meet the educational needs of the refugees, to facilitate the enrollment of Syrian students in public schools and to exempt them from school fees and the price of textbooks for the academic year 2013/2014. The statement added that the second grant, worth 10 million euros, will be earmarked for financing a project for the support of sanitation services in the Jordanian communities hosting refugees Syrians. The statement noted that Jordan is expected to get a 180 million euros soft loan from the European Union to support of country's economy.The loan agreement is expected to be signed later this year. The EU assistance to Jordan for the period from 2007 to 2013 has reached 596.7 million euros, besides the additional assistance for the value of sixty million euros announced by the European to help the country overcome the burden of hosting Syrian refugees, and additional assistance worth 21 million euros to support reforms carried out by Jordan.(QNA)