France is prepared to offer €1bn ($1.1bn) in loans to Jordan over the next three years, according to President Francois Hollande, who was visiting the kingdom this week.

Part of the aid will be used to support state budget, according to local media report.

Hollande also called on the EU and the international community to step up their support to Jordan in view of the ongoing political instability close or within its borders.

Jordan’s economy continued to struggle in 2015 due to a slowdown in its key sectors, including agriculture and exports, as well as worsening regional instability. This has been further exacerbated by the influx of refugees from Syria.

Hollande called on the EU and the international community to support the Jordan Compact, a document which outlines the new approach Jordan presented to donors in February in order to address the Syrian refugee crisis. “Europe has to give Jordan a preferential treatment and show flexibility in the rules of origin concerning Jordanian products,” Hollande said.

The IMF revised its growth projection for Jordan three times in 2015, starting with an initial 3.8 per cent in May and finally settling for 2.5 per cent in November.

The IMF’s initial growth forecast for 2016 is 3.2 per cent, which is slightly lower than Jordan’s own projections of 3.7 per cent.

The kingdom recently began a new round of discussions with the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new funding programme, following the release in August 2015 of the final instalment of the previous $2bn stand-by agreement (SBA) facility.