Gulf States Pledge $2.5 Billion To Protest-rocked Jordan

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledged $2.5 billion of aid to Jordan, in a bid to stabilize the country being rocked by massive protests against the implementation of austerity measures. International Monetary Fund-imposed price hikes and subsidy cuts have pushed thousands of Jordanians to the streets, prompting King Abdullah to sack the government and appoint a new prime minister, whose first pledge was to shelve plans for a further tax increase. Jordanian officials have been pushing the measures, required under the terms of an IMF loan, in a bid to reduce Amman’s public debt. However, Jordan’s newly-designated Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz vowed to drop a proposed income tax bill, conceding to a key demand of demonstrators. Regional monarchies fear that the unrest could spill over into other nations facing similar economic turmoil.