AMMAN — Planning Minister Jafar Hassan has concluded a visit to Washington last week during which he held talks with members of congressional committees and a number of senior officials from the White House and US Secretary of State John Kerry, according to a ministry statement sent to The Jordan Times on Sunday.

Hassan’s talks with the US officials focused on Jordan’s economic and financial reform, the economic challenges facing the Kingdom in 2013, US aid to the Kingdom and the possibility of obtaining loan guarantees from Washington to help decrease Jordan’s general debt, the statement said.

Hassan also met with representatives of research centres and news agencies in Washington and briefed them on the challenges facing Jordan, especially energy and Syrian refugees, the statement said.