AMMAN — The
World Bank projected Jordan’s economy to grow by 2.1 percent in 2022, but
rising commodity prices, supply chain bottlenecks, and the impact of the war in
Ukraine pose significant risks to the country’s economic outlook.
اضافة اعلان
The bank said in
a statement Monday that the forecast depends on the relatively strong growth
rate of 2.2 percent recorded in 2021 due to the government’s monetary and
fiscal policies. Other reasons included the gradual revival of economic
activities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But
unemployment, particularly among young people and women, remained at alarming
levels, and reforms are needed to stimulate investment and create jobs.
Economist Zayyan
Zawaneh concurred with the World Bank report. He said that Jordan’s economic
recovery was slow, but steady.
“The report focused on the actual challenges we
face: unemployment, especially among the youth, indebtedness, human capital
development, and the need for structural reforms,” Zawaneh told
Jordan News.
“I wish the
report would also mention education, health, energy, transport, and the labor
market,” he added, referring to shortcomings in these sectors.
He said he
specifically agreed with the report’s reference to high energy and food prices,
which put significant pressure on the state budget as well as the ability of
Jordanians to provide for their families.
Another
economist, Mazen Irsheid, referred to the difficult global economic condition
and its effect on the Jordanian economy. He said that included the high
inflation in strong economies worldwide and its repercussion on the Jordanian
economy, and a wave of interest rate increases by global banks and the Central
Bank of Jordan, which bore negative consequences on Jordan’s economy.
“Despite the
circumstances, the report is positive and there is logic in the report, where
improvement in the services sector has been evident, especially in the tourism
sector,” he said.
“We hope that
there will be an improvement in other sectors, especially the industrial, such
as the potash, phosphate, and mining because they are essential tributary to
the state’s treasury through taxation,” Irsheid said.
He described
Jordan’s high unemployment rate as a “major challenge”.
“Since the
pandemic, it has not changed,” he said. “We need a flow of high-volume and
sustainable foreign investment to create jobs and alleviate the unemployment
crisis.”
Salameh
Al-Darawi, another economist, said the World Bank’s expectation that Jordan’s
economy would grow was “normal, not high and within the expected rates”.
He said foreign
investment in Jordan “is strategic and important”.
“But we still
need to revitalize the investment environment by simplifying procedures and
creating incentives for investors”, he said. He explained more investments will
help eliminate the country’s unemployment crisis.
He said he hoped
that new investment bill, which is expected to be legislated when parliament
reconvenes for a summer session as of Wednesday, “will be an essential tool in
promoting the investment environment”.
The Committee on Economy and Investment in the Lower House
of Parliament promised a national dialogue with private sector institutions to
take the necessary notes and amendments into consideration with the ultimate
goal of attaining a competitive modern law that changes the reality of the
investment environment in the country and puts Jordan on the world map.
Read more Features
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
