Senate session addresses private-public partnership law

AMMAN — The Senate on Monday approved the Lower House’s decision on the public-private partnerships law during its session headed by Senate President Faisal Fayez.

This follows the Lower House’s approval of amendments to the draft law proposed by the Senate, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The Senate also discussed a question from Senator Ghazi Tayeb about government bonds and the purchase of stakes in Bank Al Etihad.

In his response, Finance Minister Mohamad Al-Ississ said that the balance of social security investment in government bonds amounted to JD5.7 billion at the end of 2019.

He noted that the average market interest rates amounted to 5.35 per cent on seven-year bonds, 6.32 per cent on 10-year bonds and 7.41 per cent on 15-year bonds.

CEO of the Social Security Investment Fund (SSIF) Kholoud Saqqaf noted that the bond portfolio revenues amounted to JD230 million for the first nine months of 2019, standing at 54 per cent of the SSIF’s total revenue, whose assets amounted to JD10.9 billion at the end of September 2019.

She said that the government in 2019 launched 64 auctions for the issuance of treasury bonds, 36 of which were issued by the SSIF.

Saqqaf added that the purchase of stakes in Bank Al Etihad was based on an analytical study that showed a feasible investment opportunity, because the fair value of the share exceeds the purchase price, as the deal’s profits at the end of January amounted to JD750,000.

At the end of 2019, the SSIF had bought five million shares from Bank Al Etihad for the Social Security Corporation, leading the corporation’s ownership in the bank’s capital to amount to 8.42 per cent. The shares were bought at JD1.5 per share, amounting to a total value of JD7.5million.