WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan closed on its offering of a $1.25 billion sovereign bond issuance guaranteed by the United States of America.  This guarantee reinforces the firm U.S. commitment to the people of Jordan by strengthening the Government of Jordan’s ability to maintain access to international financing, while enabling it to achieve its economic development and reform goals.

This guarantee marks the conclusion of a process that President Obama set in motion in March 2013 when he visited Jordan.  During his visit, President Obama noted that a U.S. guarantee, “can help deliver the results that Jordanians deserve… to see their schools better, their roads improved, healthcare, clean water all enhanced, the training that I know a lot of Jordanians seek, particularly young people, to get a job or to turn entrepreneurial skills into a business that creates even more jobs.”  That vision was further affirmed by the signing of a loan guarantee agreement in Amman on August 14, 2013.

The U.S. government is committed to supporting Jordan’s efforts to provide critical services to its citizens as it enacts economic reforms to increase Jordan’s macroeconomic stability and  hosts more than half a million refugees fleeing the violence inside Syria. This loan guarantee also reinforces Jordan’s work with other donors, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), to implement its economic reform agenda. 

Today’s issuance of a $1.25 billion, seven-year Jordanian sovereign bond was supported by a 100 percent guarantee of the repayment of principal and interest by the United States government.  The U.S. Congress authorized the Jordan loan guarantee program in the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2012, as applied to FY 2013 funding by the Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013.  The $1.25 billion issuance was priced at a coupon rate of 2.503%.