Ministers leave the Royal Court after a swearing in ceremony on October 11 (Reuters photo)

AMMAN – The annual pension bill for 346 former premiers and ministers costs the Treasury around JD8.5 million, official figures show.

According to the figures, revealed by the Ministry of Finance on Saturday and e-mailed to The Jordan Times, taxpayers are also footing over JD5.6 million annually for the pensions bill of 285 former members of Parliament.

The overall cost of the pensions bill of former politicians and Parliament members is JD14.1 million a year, according to the ministry’s statement.

Based on the figures, a retired prime minister or a minister would receive around JD2,055 a month, while the pension of a former parliamentarian would be JD1,645 a month.

Finance Minister Suleiman Hafez said in the statement that the main aim to reveal the figures is to counter recent media reports that claimed the annual pension cost of former ministers was JD54 million.

The ministry will continue to inform the public on any developments or decisions that may occur as part of the government’s transparency and partnership policy, Hafez added.

NOTE BY THE EDITOR: Considering that a Prime Minister usually only needs to be in the job in Jordan for a few months and the members of Parliament not much longer, the monthly pension of 2’055 JD (or US$ 2900) is not bad.
No wonder they smile in the photo… As usual, first of all parliamentarians need to take care of themselves first…