Nayrouz News Agency : The Jordanian government has the capacity to pay the salaries of public servants for both the current year and coming year "without any fear or concerns”, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said on Sunday.

During a number of phone interviews with local radio stations, Adaileh, who is also the government’s spokesperson, said that the Ministry of Finance will begin paying April salaries to public sector employees over the coming two days.

He also voiced the government’s readiness to pay allowances earmarked for those dismissed from some private sector companies as well as families affected by the COVID-19 crisis and the current lockdown in the country.

The government is also capable of meeting its external commitments and debts, he stressed, noting that the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has sufficient foreign reserves, estimated at $14.2 billion, and affirming that there is "no cause for concern”. 

Adaileh called on media outlets to continue reporting objectively and accurately, obtaining correct information directly from decision-makers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Speaking on the shutdown of print media since the beginning of the crisis, Adaileh said the Kingdom's dailies were already caught in a "structural and deep" crisis before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that efforts are under way to find solutions.

Calls have been made to numerous entities with the aim of finding solutions to this crisis. Among these solutions is the payment of amounts that newspapers are demanding from government entities for publishing official and judicial advertisements, which total some JD500,000, he said.

The Finance minister has promised to pay these dues so that daily newspapers can pay the salaries of their employees for March and April, Adaileh noted.

A large number of newspaper employees will also benefit from the Social Security Corporation’s programmes announced in Defence Order No. 9, he said, highlighting that work is ongoing to enable daily newspapers to benefit from the CBJ’s recent financing programmes.

Reiterating that the strategic food reserve is sufficient, Adaileh said that air and land freight have increased during this period in comparison with previous months.

The industrial sector has also resumed its work by 60 per cent, he said, noting that the percentage will reach 80 per cent during the coming weeks.

A number of productive and trade sectors will resume operations during the current week according to a timetable, after guidelines that include safety instructions are prepared, to be approved by the epidemiology committee.

Commenting on the return of Jordanian students studying abroad, Adaileh said that 10,000 students have registered through the safelyhome.gov.jo platform over the past two days. The number is expected to increase during the coming days.

Regarding amended curfew instructions, he called on Aqaba residents, who have been permitted to use their vehicles, to set an example by abiding by public health regulations, as the government will amend curfew instructions in a number of other governorates.

The Kingdom has experienced a number of crises and managed to overcome them through Jordanians’ efforts, he concluded.