GCC proposes USD 2 bln annual grant to Jordan

The Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in their meeting in Jeddah two days ago, had proposed a grant to Jordan of USD 2 billion per year for five years, reported Al-Arab newspaper on Tuesday. According to an informed government source, there had been great flexibility on the part of the GCC countries regarding efforts to accelerate changes required for the Hashemite Kingdom's accession to the Gulf bloc, except Oman which took "a contrary stance". The funding includes oil and financial aid to help the treasury overcome losses brought on by the state's joining the customs union and to bring up the economic indices closer to those in the GCC member states, the newspaper added. In addition to the grant proposal, the meeting of GCC foreign ministers had also yielded a recommendation to set up two working groups under the secretariat with representation from both Morocco and Jordan. Specialized committees are to shoot out from the working committees to consider all venues for cooperation and report to the higher council.