Jordan, US sign $17m wheat grant agreement

Jordan and the US have signed an agreement under which Washington will provide the Kingdom with 50,000 tonnes of wheat valued at $17 million, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation said on Saturday. Planning Minister Jafar Hassan and US Ambassador to Jordan Stuart Jones signed the grant agreement, which is part of the US Food for Progress programme, according to a statement from the ministry. A senior official from the US Department of Agriculture was also present at the signing of the agreement. The donation was announced during His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Washington early this year, the ministry said, adding that the grant is in recognition of Jordan’s reform efforts and to help the Kingdom overcome economic and financial challenges. According to the ministry, revenues from selling the wheat will be used to fund projects included in the budget. Once the government receives the donation, it will use approximately $10.56 million of the funds to construct the Karak Dam over three years, the US embassy in Amman said, indicating that the remaining proceeds will be used to pay for the transportation, discharge and handling of the wheat. The Karak Dam, which will have a 1.9-million-cubic-metre capacity, will benefit 5,000 families, increase yields on about 5,600 dunums of farmland and generate an additional $1.4 million per year for the Jordanian economy, according to the embassy statement. From JT