AMMAN — Jordan
recorded a 31.7 percent increase in its trade deficit of trade in the first
five months of the year, according to a Department of Statistics (DoS) monthly
report.
اضافة اعلان
DoS said the deficit, which is the difference between exports and
imports, amounted to JD4.1 billion, a 31.7 percent rise over the corresponding
period in 2021.
The report showed
that total exports stood at JD3.4 billion between January and May 2022, which
is 41.2 percent increase from the same period in 2021.
Imports were
valued at JD7.5 billion in the first five months of 2022, a 35.8 percent
increase over the same period in 2021.
Economist Raad
Al-Tal explained that “if exports exceeded imports, we would have a healthy
economy.”
“The trade balance
shows the country’s ability to produce,” he told
Jordan News.
Tal pointed out
that Jordan imports between 80 to 85 percent of its market needs, which
“explains the rise in prices, because the commodity prices increased in the
manufacturing countries”.
“The increase in
the deficit of trade balance further burdens the external debt, leading to an
increase in the state’s budget deficit”, and will lead to a further increase in
debts, Tal said.
“The main reason
for the deficit is the lack of produced goods in Jordan, which include goods
that can be produced domestically, using our resources,” he said. “This leads
us to import our needs instead.”
Another economist,
Salameh Al-Daraawi, linked the increased deficit to the economic policies,
which the government is adopting and they can be interpreted as obstructing the
business of the private sector.
“Therefore, there
is a need to review these policies and plan to increases the national exports,”
he told
Jordan News.
“Increases in
exports leads to increase in Central bank reserves of hard currency,” he said.
“An increase of national exports means more job opportunities because
facilities which would export more products will need to hire more people to do
the job.”
He said every $1
billion in exports will provide at least 80,000 jobs.
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