AMMAN — The
national economy registered a slight improvement this year, compared to 2020, which was
“exceptional and unprecedented”, but high taxes continue to be a burden on
boththe productive sector and the citizens, and thus a hindrance to more robust
recovery, economist interviewed by
Jordan News assert.
اضافة اعلان
According to
official government figures, local revenues rose until the end of October of
this year by about JD963.1 million, or 17.8 percent over to the same period
last year, while the unemployment rate in the Kingdom decreased during the
third quarter of 2021 by 1.6 percent, compared to the second quarter of the
year.
The
GDP at
constant market prices grew in the second quarter of 2021 by 3.2 percent, while
the value of total exports increased during the first nine months of this year
to reach JD4.719 billion.
Tourism income
increased by the end of November by 78.5 percent, to reach $2.4 billion, due to
a considerable increase in the number of tourists; 2.109 million tourists
visited Jordan till the end of November this year. December, however, witnessed
huge cancellations due to the pandemic, and that is bound to offset the
increase so far.
Economist Mohammad
Al-Basheer said that Jordan has been suffering from economic woes since well
before the
COVID-19 pandemic, “the most prominent of which being the lack of
proper management of the economic files and failure to give significant
importance to the industrial and agricultural sectors”.
Basheer told
Jordan
News that the rise in national debt and in taxes affects negatively the
industrial sector and that “the main cause of the financial problems is still
the taxation system followed in Jordan”.
A cut in taxes “is
surely needed”, he said, to help the productive sectors and alleviate the
burden on citizens.
Mufleh Aqel,
another economy expert, told
Jordan News that the national economy
improved in 2021, but the upturn did not significantly affect the GDP, adding
that a tax reduction would increase the purchasing power of citizens, which, in
turn, is bound to have a positive impact on the GDP.
Economist Husam
Ayesh told
Jordan News that this year’s
economic indicators are positive
compared to last year’s, which was “exceptional worldwide”, adding that
Jordan’s economic downturn is the lowest among Arab countries and the country
is witnessing a slight economic growth, not enough, however, to “provide
economic security and lift the national economy”.
“One of the main
reasonsis the tax burden,” he said, wondering why “the government insists on
following this approach, although it strains the economic process and weakens
the investment opportunities”.
Economist and
former minister of state for economic affairs
Yusuf Mansur said any analysis of
the economic performance this year compared to last has to take into
consideration the fact that last year was a year of decline, and therefore,“any
improvement will be tangible compared to 2020”.
As such, he said
comparisons should be measured against normal years, such as 2015, 2016, 2019
and others, as, in comparison with “a miserable year such as 2020, anything
would seem better”.
Mansur disagreed
that unemployment levels decreased, affirming that it“actually increased
compared to 2019, for example”.
As for increase in
taxes, Mansur said the “government expenditure does not encourage development
and investment, it is only focused on salaries and retirement, and when
expenditures exceed imports, the government is forced to raise taxes”.
To address this
vexing issue, he believes “the government should be bold in taking new and
serious decisions”.
“The government
has two approaches, either deflationary policies, through which it will reduce
expenditures and raise taxes, or create major projects that provide job
opportunities for the youth; when the productivity increases, the income also
increases. When the people become rich, the government becomes rich,” he said.
In order to revive
the economy, he said, the country “must come up with strategic plans and learn
how to deal with the distortions that were created by 2020, otherwise, this
will inevitably affect the economy later on.”
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