Jordan king meets US treasury secretary, director of IMF

His Majesty King Abdullah II met here on Thursday separately with U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew, and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde.The King discussed with the Secretary of Treasury the cooperation relations between Jordan and the U.S. in various fields, especially in economic and financial domains.The King thanked the U.S. government for the support provided to Jordan, especially the recent U.S. guarantees to the Kingdom to issue Eurobonds in the international market at the value of $1.25 billion.Lew said that his country will continue to provide economic support to Jordan to help it address the repercussions of hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees in the Middle East.Further, the U.S. official praised King Abdullah’s vision in dealing with the challenges facing the Middle East, and his efforts to enhance peace, security and stability.In a separate meeting, King Abdullah and the IMF chief discussed Jordan’s ties with the Fund as well as the technical assistance provided to the Kingdom to implement the national economic reform program, which started two years ago.The meeting also dealt with the Kingdom’s financial and monetary situation, especially in light of the program which will continue until the end of 2015.King Abdullah and Lagarde also touched on a conference, which will be co-hosted by Jordan and the IMF in Amman in cooperation with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development in May.The conference is the first of its kind to be organized by the Fund in the Middle East and will bring together finance ministers and central bank governors from the Arab World along with economists and officials in the fiscal and monetary fields.Lagarde, for her part, praised the reforms, currently underway in Jordan. She also expressed appreciation for the Kingdom’s humanitarian relief provided to the Syrian refugees, stressing the need of the international community and organizations to support these efforts.