|Other|14|0.0|0.5|
|---|---|---|---|
|CIP|N\A|N/A|N/A|
|**_Subsidies_**<sup>_c_</sup>|957|3.2|31.8|
|Electricity<sup>d</sup>|445|1.5|14.8|
|Water<sup>e</sup>|512|1.7|17.0|
|**_Other_**||||
|Contributory pensions|N\A|N\A|N\A|

Sources: Education- Ministry of Education budget (2018); Health - BOOST; Electricity - NEPCO sales (2019); NAF – Ministry of Social Development budget (2018); Bread compensation- Ministry of Finance, may include budget for other small components (2018); Zakat fund annual report. Water – WAJ. Notes: a and b. Total government spending = primary government spending plus interest payments on debt plus use of cash adjustment.

c. Subsidies are not included in the central government budget but are still government liabilities. For example, electricity losses incurred by NEPCO (National Electricity Production Company) have been financed not from the government’s budget but from debt raised and guaranteed by the government on behalf of NEPCO (World Bank 2012).

d. We estimate the total cost of both residential subsidies (JD 300m official estimate) and commercial tariff subsidies which go to consumers through cheaper final goods and services (JD 145m based on modeling of indirect consumption in HEIS survey; not an official estimate).

e. We estimate the total cost of both residential subsidies (JD 549m official estimate) less commercial tariff cross-subsidies which go to consumers through more expensive final goods and services (JD 37m based on modeling of indirect consumption in HEIS survey; not an official estimate).

There are various social assistance programmes in Jordan. The main cash transfer programme in Jordan is the _National Aid Fund (NAF)_ .<sup>9</sup> It is an unconditional transfer that has as main target beneficiaries poor individuals without income and people belonging to especially vulnerable groups (e.g. families taking care of orphaned children, elderly individuals, persons with disability, families headed by divorced or abandoned women, women with young children, families whose breadwinner is in prison). NAF covered (in 2018) about 101,000 families who receive a monthly cash transfer of approximately JOD 45 per person (up to JOD 180 per family) depending on income, assets and family characteristics. Since 2018, NAF has expanded the reach of their cash transfers; a new transfer program for the poor—Takaful—launched in May 2019 alongside Jordan’s National Social Protection Strategy for 2019-2025, planning to add a total of 85,000 households by 2021.<sup>10</sup> In addition, the Zakat fund is a small unconditional cash transfer providing JOD 30 per household per month plus JOD 5 per household member for households living on an income below the extreme poverty line (Roth, Nimeh and Hagen-Zanker 2017). Finally, there has been a cash compensation scheme (‘bread compensation’) in operation since January 2018. A flour subsidy was removed and replaced with a small cash transfer of JOD 27 per person per year given to Jordanian households with earnings under

> 9 This list of programmes is not exhaustive but covers the largest components.

> 10 In 2019, 25,000 households were added, 30,000 more were added in 2020, and further 30,000 more were planned for 2021, first enrolling the ‘poorest’ (according to the Takaful targeting methodology) who were not already benefiting from NAF monthly cash transfer programs. The selection of Takaful beneficiaries is made based on a combination of formal/informal earnings and asset ownership filters, and then on a ranking of households on a poverty score. The benefit level per household is also determined based on a formula score, being around JOD 100 on average.