Breaking News:
Breaking News:
Salameh Al-Draawi
In the Jordanian economy, there are three factors I consider most capable of revealing the level of economic stability, not because they are the only important indicators, but because they have a direct capacity to generate rapid pressure on the treasury and public finances and thereby affect economic activity as a whole. The importance of this stands out especially given that the 2026 budget deficit, after grants, is estimated at around 2.125 billion dinars, with public debt interest allocations of around 2.260 billion dinars.
Jordan’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing are grounded in a firm political and national commitment at the highest levels. Legislative, executive, judicial, regulatory, and security institutions are all involved in implementing this commitment, as combating these crimes is regarded as an essential part of protecting the national economy, safeguarding the integrity of the financial system, and upholding the rule of law. This commitment gives Jordan’s efforts continuity that extends beyond the timelines of international assessments and aligns them with the state’s economic and institutional priorities.
As nearly two years approach since the formation of Dr. Jaafar Hassan's government, the government's announcement of what it has accomplished presents public opinion with an important opportunity to redefine the concept of government accountability.
The most important figure in the report on newly created job opportunities is not simply that the net opportunities obtained by Jordanians reached 87,617 during 2025, the highest level on record, but what the details reveal about labor market movement, the role of the private sector, and the groups benefiting most from the new jobs.
The rise in individual indebtedness in Jordan to 14.312 billion dinars by the end of the first quarter of 2026 deserves a reading that goes beyond the size of the recorded increase. The 0.6% growth over three months seems modest, but it comes on top of an already high credit base, equivalent to roughly a third of GDP, and accounting for nearly 40% of total banking facilities.
Following the press report published last week in Al Ghad newspaper on the government's success in curbing the growth of debt interest costs, it becomes necessary to shift the discussion from the question of how large the debt is to a more important question: how is it managed, and how much does its financial portfolio cost the Treasury annually?
The drop in Jordan's overall unemployment rate to 16.1% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 16.5% in the same period last year, is a positive signal — especially since this improvement came against a turbulent regional backdrop whose effects are still being felt in investment, trade, and economic activity.
The Aqaba Port crisis is real, but it doesn't reflect a weakness in receiving ships or handling containers. Rather, it reveals a gap between the success of operations inside the port and the ability of the logistics system to move goods out at the same speed. A container that cranes unload efficiently, but which then sits in the yards, quickly turns from an operational achievement into an economic bottleneck.
Discussions of public debt in Jordan tend to focus on two figures: the total amount owed and its ratio to gross domestic product. Those numbers matter, but they tell only part of the story. Public debt is not simply a balance that accumulates from year to year. It is a financial portfolio with a cost, a set of maturities, interest rates, funding sources and exposure to global markets and exchange rates. The more precise question is not how much Jordan owes, but how much that debt costs the treasury, when it comes due, and at what rate it gets refinanced. Data from the government's public finance bulletin shows a notable shift on that front in 2025.
Standard & Poor's decision to affirm Jordan's sovereign credit rating at BB- with a stable outlook was, at this particular moment, no mere technical decision — it carries an important message of confidence in the Jordanian economy's ability to withstand one of the region's most turbulent environments.
TOP STORIES
Editor's Picks
