Around 300,000 households have or will receive a combined JD 50 million in cash assistance from the National Aid Fund (NAF) in March, NAF’s director Omar Mashaqbeh told Jordan News Agency (Petra) Tuesday.

The payments include regular, temporary and recurring monthly cash transfers, Mashaqbeh said.

He added that the NAF will transfer Tuesday the cash assistance to about 115,000 families accessing the recurring monthly assistance program and supplementary aid scheme.

This is in addition to 12,000 most-in-need families benefiting from the additional financial aid program, he said.

According to Mashaqbeh, the fund has already deposited cash assistance to around 85,000 families eligible for assistance under the supplementary aid program "Takaful 1" and 87,000 families placed under the temporary cash assistance program "Takaful 3" which targets households who are hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

He said the number of beneficiary households comprises 20 percent of the total number of Jordanian families currently residing in the Kingdom.

Mashaqbeh described the figure as one the highest coverage rates in the world.

He added that about 150,000 of the households are first-time beneficiaries, indicating that the expansion of social protection programs is the largest in the history of the Kingdom, and was ordered by His Majesty King Abdullah II in a visit to the fund last year.

Mashaqabeh said that the fund's teams are finalizing case studies and assessments of more than 18,000 grievances filed by households, noting that the fund will transfer Tuesday the funds to those found eligible.

He lastly added that the list of names of those eligible to access the "Takaful 3" program will be released during the next few days, pointing out that the program aims to reach 100,000 households.